


Reconnecting

by Afro_Thunder, sonicsora



Category: CyberSix
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Torture, Nazis, Reunions, Revenge, Slavery, Starting Over, Terry Crews??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-01-26 15:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afro_Thunder/pseuds/Afro_Thunder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicsora/pseuds/sonicsora
Summary: Cybersix's long-thought dead adoptive father reappears in Meridiana in search for her after more than a decade. Unfortunately, while Von Reichter is dead, his son is still well alive, and making bigger moves to control Meridiana entirely. However, Six's dad might be the key to toppling José's reign of terror for good.Plot idea and outline by me, additional writing and help by sonicsora.
Relationships: Cybersix | Adrian Seidelman & Unnamed Dad, Lucas Amato/CyberSix | Adrian Seidelman
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this one was interesting...
> 
> So me and Sora are in the same Cybersix discord, and a running joke I've made there was having Terry Crews as Cybersix's adoptive dad, instead of the walking racist stereotype the comic had. Sora ended up joining in on it, and even came up with a silly outline. I actually liked the idea, and wanted to do something with it. So we came up with a more serious story, though most of the dad's humor was kept in, and we even named him Terry. There's some small nods to the comic, and a reference to the "Friday" film series, which Terry Crews was also in (Try and guess what it is!), and another subtler one to Pulp Fiction.
> 
> Really, we winged most of this plot as we went along, but it was fun, lol. But Terry Crews as Six's dad beats the racist ass caricature that was in the comic by a wide margin.

“Swear to God, I’mma kill that brat…”

A tall, somewhat imposing black man in his mid 30s trudged through the downtown streets of Meridiana, wearing little but a tattered trench coat, and some even more tattered clothes underneath, barring his shoes by sheer luck. He fumed as he stomped down the sidewalk, scaring off passersby with his angry scowl and imposing figure.

In reality, he was anything but a violent or even angry man, but if anyone else had been through what he had virtually his entire life, they’d be scarred physically and mentally as well. Yet, despite it all, he managed to keep himself together, even if it was mostly for _ her_.

“...Stupid goose-steppin, Hitler slauting, big headed, no cojones-having son of a bitch,” the man grumbled. “Just like his daddy.”

The man looked around his surroundings, and was mostly greeted by intimidated stares of several citizens, while others pointed and whispered at him as he walked by. Granted, his less than kempt appearance and furious glare did him no favours, but he didn’t exactly have much of a choice in his appearance, on top of the severe pain coursing through his body.

Years ago, he was just a young child named Terry, without a care in the world. When he was five, Von Reichter and his Fixed Ideas kidnapped him as a child from his family while they were vacationing in South America, and forced him into slavery, renaming him Julius. He had attempted to escape several times, but each time, he was captured and tortured by Von Reichter’s creations, mainly by his “son” José, who was actually a clone of the doctor, but with a child’s body to prevent rebellion.

By the time he was in his twenties, Terry had given up hope of ever escaping, but he found solace in Cyber-6, one of five-thousand humanoid creatures in the form of young children Von Reichter had created as soldiers to take over the world with. Cyber-6 had grown particularly close to him during his captivity, and he in turn did everything in his power to protect her from José, and be an overall good role model and parental surrogate in place of the cold and aloof doctor.

When Von Richter ordered the destruction of all the Cybers, Terry, instead of helping carry out the task, rescued Cyber-6, and fled to a fishing village near the ocean, where he raised her peacefully for three years, essentially becoming her actual dad. Unfortunately, Von Reichter had tracked them down, and tried to kill them both.

Terry frowned at that particular memory. He had no idea what happened to her after that day, other than knowing she escaped while he held several Fixed Ideas at bay. Eventually, Von Reichter recaptured him, and dragged him back to his lab, where he was tortured nearly every day for nearly a year; trying to pump Cyber-6’s whereabouts out of him, but he didn't know where she had gone.

Terry snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed a group of Fixed Ideas standing around in broad daylight two streets down from him. He began to panic, and frantically looked around. If there were Fixed Ideas here, José wasn’t far behind. Quickly, he ducked into an alleyway, and ran as fast as his already sore legs could carry him. He didn’t get very far when he accidentally ran over a young woman who also happened to be strolling in that particular alleyway. The woman hit the cobblestone like a sack of bricks, while Terry, ever the graceful man, ended up front flipping onto his back.

“Ah, shit!” Terry hissed. “My neck! My back! My neck _ and _ my back! That hurt like hell!” Despite himself, he quickly got up from the ground, hoping he didn’t hurt the lady he ran into.

It is hardly the first nor will it be the last time Maura will hit the ground in an alleyway. Not that it soothes the woman any. She had been having a perfectly good damn day, now _ this _. “Hell-” She rubs at her back, sitting up slowly. She shoots the man a glare from under her choppily cut bangs. More than ready to give him a piece of her mind given he bowled her over. “The hell was that for!?” 

Not that the anger lasts particularly long when she sees the state of the man, her mind jumps to him being homeless. The agitation eases up, “You... new round here?” She dusts herself off, moving to stand, regaining her footing after a moment. 

Terry grunted in confirmation, straightening himself up to his full height, towering over the woman. “Kinda. I’ve been… off the grid for a while,” he lied._ Like anyone would believe the truth _, he thought to himself. “Sorry for steamrolling ya, by the way. I saw a few guys I didn’t like, and I’m in no shape to be fighting right now.” He tried to chuckle, but it came out as a strained wheeze.

Maura spares the way the man came a brief glance, brows quirking upwards. “Off the grid and already running? Yeesh.” She clicks her tongue against her teeth, finding herself sympathizing with the man. She knew what it was like to be at rock bottom in a new place. It always took time to even get half your shit together in that situation. 

She flicks her gaze back upwards at the man. The tired wheezing if anything certainly shows the man needs a break. “No need to fight anybody, lemme at least show you where people who don’t like living on the grid stay. I used to haunt there often enough. If you’re interested anyway.” Maura shrugs a little, “I won’t force you, obviously.”

Terry looks the woman up and down. She didn’t _ seem _ dangerous, but he could tell she was a former junkie. He had seen how some of Von Reichter’s creatures acted and looked when they were denied Sustenance; to the point where they would literally sell a kidney for some. It was a sight that scarred him for life at an early age.  
  
The slightly older man shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good,” he said. “I got no time to slow down. Especially when I’m so close to finding my daughter here.” He cracked his neck, which was still sore from the landing. “I’ve been hearing she’s made quite the name for herself here.”

“If you say so.” Maura idly scratches at her inner arm, not thinking deeply about the old track scars that lay on the skin. People knew what she was most of the time from first glance, the gauntness of her features and twitchiness she still carried with her spoke volumes. 

Mention of a daughter does make the redhead tilt her head to the side somewhat, “Your daughter, huh? What’s her name? Maybe I can point you in the right direction.” She settles a hand against her hip, “Especially if she’s at least running around at night. This city goes nuts at night for some reason.”

Terry laughed again, this time sounding more natural. “That’s seems to line up with the rumors I hear about her.” He folded his arms, a grin formed on his face. “Maybe you’ve heard of her. She goes by Cyber-6.”

Maura’s expression brightens at that, her lips curling into a genuinely warm smile. There was a fondness there that easily spoke of a friendship. “Well, hell, you’re her dad? Nice to see Cyb has family!”

She laughs a little, shaking her head as she thinks about the times the other woman has gotten her out of a jam or two. “It’s hard to miss her jumping around with that cape and hat. Along with that panther of hers.” Maura mimes pulling down the brim of a hat over her face, followed by miming a billowing cape. “She’s gonna be thrilled to see you, I bet!”

Terry blinked at the mention of a panther, but decided not to dwell on it. _ If he’s with her, he must’ve got his memories back now. _ “I can only hope she still recognizes me. It’s been years since we’ve seen each other.”

Terry suddenly felt his stomach growl. He grimaced slightly. He hadn’t eaten anything significant for days, and his adrenaline had long since worn off before he even reached the city limits. And with no cash, on top of looking a mess, getting something to eat in Meridiana was going to be an impossibility.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, she takes time to remember everyone.” Maura answers with an easy smile, though she has to chuckle at the near audible growl from the man’s stomach. “Here,” She pats her pockets, producing her wallet after a moment. “I can at least give you this much scratch so you can hit up one of the cheaper diners around here.” 

She opens her wallet, extending some loose bills out to the man. It isn’t much from the looks of it, but it will get him something to actually eat. “Cafe’s round here have cheap lunch and dinner deals. More than enough to get you leftovers too.”

Terry shook his head. “Naw, I can’t take that. I—” His growling stomach cuts off whatever protest he had planned.

Maura gives an amused sound, brows quirking upwards at the second growl. “Listen, your daughter is my friend, someone whose jumped in to help me without a second thought. Least I can do is make sure her dad _ eats _ something.” 

She just reaches out to open his palm, placing the money in his hand. “I won’t go hungry from helping you, trust me. I look pure junkie still, but I _ do _ have a job.” Maura closes her wallet, tucking it back into her jean pocket. “Go eat something, stick around either the old cathedral or the giant angel statue, she usually haunts around there for trouble around 1am.”

Terry raises a bemused eyebrow at the woman. “And how would you know the exact places she lurks at?” he asks somewhat humorously. “Are you stalking my baby girl?”

Maura has to laugh again at the teasing. “Old cathedral was primarily junkie territory.” She points out with a smirk, “Your daughter sweeps in to make sure nobody OD’d, if not visit with folks. Statue wise, pal, it’s a giant brooding statue of an angel and she stands out like a sore thumb standing atop it dramatically.” She mimes a billowing cape again with a chuckle.

Terry chuckles as well. “You make her out like she’s Batwoman or something.” He looks down at the money Maura gave him, then back to her. “Well, thanks for the info and the cash. I’ll see to paying you back in kind, one day.”

The redhead shrugs a little, “Eh, long as you two find each other, I’ll be happy.” Maura didn’t particularly hold people to paying her back. Life was too short to penny pinch when others needed help. “Stay safe out there, always something weird happening in this city.”

Terry snorts. “Trust me, if who I think hangs in this city near my girl, I know exactly what to expect.” _ Especially if it’s that little brat… _

Terry turned and began to walk away, but stopped himself, and turned back to Maura. “By the way, I didn’t get your name. Mine’s Terry.”

“Oh yeah!” She taps a finger against her forehead, ruffling her bangs. “I’m Maura, Maura Click.” She extends a hand to shake his. “Pleasure to meet ya.” 

Terry shakes Maura’s hand, thanking her again before heading off further into the city.

* * *

He can feel the warmth of the sunlight trickling in through the window against his back, it’s a relaxing kind of feeling. A feeling that makes the tension of the rest of the day melt away. Lucas Amato certainly helps matters considerably as well. His natural warmth and kindness always sets Adrian at ease. With everything they’ve gone through, he knows he can trust this man with anything. 

He hides a smile behind the mug he lifts to his lips, amusement warming him as Lucas talks animatedly about the boxing match on television. He sips at his tea a moment longer before setting the drink aside on the table between them. His gaze flicks back up to Lucas, admiring the man but not really _ hearing _ him. Apparently as much is obvious in his expression.

“Adrian, are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” Lucas quirks a brow back, rather than being offended, he merely looks amused. 

“I- Well- really-” Adrian starts to protest, but sinks a little into his seat. He guiltily runs a hand through his hair with a lopsided smile. “You lost me when we started talking about boxing stats.” 

Lucas simply shakes his head, “You could’ve told me.” 

“I know, I-” He tilts his head to the side, waving a hand uncertainly to try and summon the words. “I just like hearing you talk. Even if I don’t understand all of it.” His smile turns a touch shy, “It’s endearing.” 

The blonde man blinks slowly, “I- oh.” A light flush colors his cheeks. The two sit in silence for a moment, at a loss of what to say. Lucas sits up a little, coughing into his hand. “Well, I’m glad.” 

“You- good.” Adrian manages very eloquently back, before pinching the bridge of his nose. “I swear, I can speak normally.” 

“I know.” Lucas reassures in kind, “I think we both lost coherency.” He taps a finger against the side of his head jokingly, “Teaching will do that to you.” 

Adrian laughs a little, “As does, night time outings.” Its as much of the topic as they’ve broached for the past few days. At least talking about it when something isn’t happening in Meridiana. 

Lucas nods slowly, “Yeah, of course. Those can be- pretty draining.” He settles a hand on the table. He pauses as he speaks a little more quietly. “Are you… staying _ hydrated _?” 

The very careful phrasing earns a huff of amusement from the shorter man, “Yes, I am.” 

“Hydration is key to- staying energized.” Lucas presses back, though it comes out sounding awkward and strange. He realizes as much from the odd look that crops up on his face. 

Adrian groans a little, tipping his head back unable to contain his laughter. “_ Lucas _, you sound like a terrible PSA.” 

“I am an educator, Adrian, I must educate.” He jokes a little back, lips curling into an amused grin. “It’s not something I can turn off even after school hours.” 

“That explains the chemistry conversations we’ve had.” Adrian muses in turn, before his gaze drifts back out to the window. The sky is turning a soft orange, the sun slowly setting. He settles is hands against the table top, initially to hold onto his mug of tea, before just laying them flat. “I might stay in tonight, I do have papers to grade.” 

“With how Lori and her friends were complaining, I’m guessing it’s a hell of an essay.” 

Adrian only looks away from the window when he feels the warmth of Lucas hand against his own. A calloused thumb brushes across the back of his hand. 

The two hold each other’s gazes for a moment before Lucas draws his hand back. Adrian misses the warmth, but can’t find it in him to say anything about it. Lucas just smiles, a touch “Don’t over do it, you need some actual sleep too.”

* * *

Terry was trudging down a side street, hoping he could get to a restaurant before he passed out, and that was the last thing he needed. If José was really running things now, he’d be dead if he got spotted. Terry scanned the street, and didn’t see any fixed ideas. Trying to look casual… well, as casual one could get looking like a homeless bum, he continued looking for a spot to eat, when a particular restaurant caught his eye across the street. But it wasn’t the food advertised on the signs that got his attention, it was the person he saw inside the restaurant’s window.

Terry rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Was it really her? Or was it _ him _ now? They were much taller than he remembered, and their hair was styled differently, along with wearing glasses. But their face was unmistakable. Quickly, he made a dash across the street to the restaurant’s entrance.

* * *

Adrian gives a slow stretch, rolling his shoulders with the motion. He spares Lucas a brief smile. “It’s about time we go.” He reaches out to start gathering some of the folders and books back into his briefcase. 

The blonde man nods, “Do you want me to walk you home?” 

Adrian snorts at that, “I’m more than fine on my own, Lucas. Thank you though.” He spares the window they’re seated by a glance, more on a whim than anything else. His grip on his briefcase laxens and it hits the table with an audible thud. The sound startles Lucas, but Adrian doesn’t notice, his gaze catching sight of- someone far too familiar running in the direction of the restaurant. 

It couldn’t be- it- it honestly couldn’t be him. He only saw a glimpse and it had to be- a mistake. 

“You… okay Adrian?” 

The dark haired man blinked snapping his gaze back to Lucas, “I- yes?” 

“That’s real convincing.” The taller man offers back with a snort. Not that Adrian gets to defend himself for long as the bell over the door to the cafe jingles. The waitress yells a friendly welcome as someone makes their way inside.

* * *

Terry quickly greeted the waitress as he heads towards the area where Cyber-6’s table. Rounding a corner, he saw her in the flesh, nothing like how the rumors described her. He had always known her to be a tomboy, and at times, even indistinguishable from her brother, Cyber-29. But here was Cyber-6, completely and convincingly dressed as a man, while being flanked by another man he didn’t recognize.

Slowly, he approached his daughter, not wanting to freak them out by running at them. Or end up eating a clothesline from her apparent friend for that matter. Terry wasn’t no shrimp, but even he could see he how strong the man was just by looking at him.

Just seeing a ghost walk up to one’s table proves to be enough to make Adrian sink back into his seat. 

“Adrian-?” Lucas’ concern wasn’t lessening. Adrian couldn’t even choke out words to try and ease his friend, his mind is still reeling. This can’t be real? It can’t- yet… His father is coming to the table right now, alive, so real, so human, and it’s something Adrian is having a hard time believing. He cradles his face in his hands or a moment. “Oh- _ oh _.” Lucas finally takes notice of their guest, tensing slightly. 

“Good oh, bad oh-?” Clearly on the edge of acting more than thinking. The way he starts to grasp at the edge of the table is enough to warn Adrian of what he’s thinking. 

Adrian quickly flies out of his seat, waving his hands at Lucas, “It’s good, its good- just…” He locks eyes with his dad. His hands fall to his sides, “I, hello.” 

It isn’t the most eloquent way one can greet their father after years of being apart, but Adrian isn’t the most eloquent kind of man.

Terry gave the man an unamused look before turning back to Cyber-6. Looking her up and down, he couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I know you always took after your brother, but I’d never thought I’d see you dressed up as Urkel!” He joked, hoping to ease some of the tension.

Adrian chokes on a laugh, a hand raising to adjust his glasses. “I- I thought you were...” He pauses. He’s aware of the fact they’re in public, they need to be careful. “I’ve missed you… so much.” His voice wavers slightly, before he can completely contain it.

“Adrian-?” Lucas questions uncertainly, his gaze drifting between the two for a moment. Adrian blows out a soft breath, reaching out to pat Lucas’ arm. 

“He’s- someone very important to me.” Adrian states simply back, “My father.” The blonde man seems openly surprised by much, having never heard Adrian speak of any family before this. 

“We need to talk.” Adrian states firmly back, even if a smile does curl across his features at his father. “Somewhere a little quieter.” 

“Out of the public eye.” Lucas agrees readily with a quick nod. He pauses, “I’m Lucas, by the way. You know Adrian, obviously.” He waves a hand a little awkwardly earning a dry snort from the lithe man across from him.

_ So she _ is _ going by a male identity, _ Terry thought. _ Glad to know all that time hanging around 29 actually paid off. _

“Terry,” the father replies. “Not exactly how I predicted reuniting, honestly…” his stomach cuts him off before he can say anything else. He looks down at his stomach, and back up at the duo, before letting out a sheepish chuckle.

“Uh, does this place have a takeout option?”

* * *

“I think this should be it. Watch out for the pipe right here.” Lucas answers as he ducks to avoid a low hanging pipe before coming to a stop next to a door. “Data Seven! It’s Lucas! I brought a guest!” He warns through the door with a knock, fairly aware to not startle the panther. 

He turns the knob, stepping into the panther’s den. A spare abandoned room had been turned into something more by Cybersix and her brother. The black panther grumbles a little, sitting up from the bed he was roosting upon. Lucas holds the door open for Terry given the man’s hands are full with takeout containers. 

The panther tilts his head curiously, recognition blossoming on his feline features. He gives a low rumbling sound, rising from the bed to go greet the man. 

“Don’t knock him over-” Lucas warns, but is clearly ignored by the experiment as he bumps his head against Terry’s leg.

“Good to see you too, Data Seven,” Terry chuckled as the panther rubbed himself around Terry’s legs, while also sniffing him. “Yeah, it’s the real me. _ Herr doktor _ didn’t care about me enough to even consider cloning me.”

Lucas closes the door behind them, moving to settle down on one of the chairs left in the room. He chuckles a little at the reunion going on, trying to give the two some space. The blonde man isn’t unaware he’s mostly an outsider on the drama to some extent. “Cybersix knew it was him immediately, Data Seven.” Lucas adds as further reassurance. 

The panther gives a vague snort in Lucas’ direction, still intent on sniffing Terry and headbutting a hand demandingly. Either for a pet or to steal some of his food, it was up in the air to some extent.

Terry just chuckled. “Let me set some of this down first, and I’ll split some of the food with ya, ‘kay?”

Data Seven immediately obliged, and gave Terry enough space so he could set the food down on a nearby table. Terry just laughed, all too familiar with the panther’s large appetite, even when he was still Cyber-29.

Lucas leaned back in his seat, a smile curling across his features as he watched the two interact. Data Seven even now was always so relaxed around Cybersix, and hesitant around everyone else to some extent. Actually seeing the reserved panther be so content around Terry is- strange, but nice in its own way. 

“How long have you been in the city so far, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lucas questions as Terry gets things set up and spread out on the table, with Data Seven watching him. The panther’s tail is shifting back and forth across the floor like a cat about to pounce.

“Less than a full day,” Terry answered. He pulled out a piece of steak from one of the containers, and threw it in Data Seven’s direction. The panther greedily leaps into the air, and catches the steak, nearly swallowing it whole in the process.

“Hey now, don’t choke yourself, cause I ain’t trying to give no pather the heimlich,” Terry said, though the tone of his voice indicated humor. Data Seven simply replies with a huff, before focusing on the steak. Turning back to Lucas with a more serious, he continued their conversation. “You know about Cyber-6’s last confrontation with Von Riechter, right?”

Lucas nodded.

“Good, so I don’t need to go over the finer details then. Anyway, when she and Seven did the raid on Von Reichtor’s base and set off the self destruct sequence, all of the doors got unlocked automatically, and I ran outta there with the quickness. Anyone else who could’ve stopped me were either trying to escape themselves, or ganged up on Von Douchecanoe himself as soon as they were freed.”

The unexpected nickname earns a slight chuckle from the blonde man, when the nazi came up in conversation, things usually remained fairly serious to say the least. Levity is a nice change. “I’m certainly glad you were able to escape. From what Cybersix has told me, it was pure chaos up there.” He shakes his head a little at the descriptions floating through his mind.

He spreads his arms wide, half joking as he adds. “Welcome to Meridiana, we have a bit of a overflow of a Nazi problem, but, we’re working on it. So far José’s plans haven’t taken off like they had before, so you came at a relatively safe time.” 

Lucas relaxes back into his chair as he adds more seriously, his expression softening to a gentle smile. “I’m more than sure Cybersix is happy you’re here, I- she deserves some happiness after everything that’s happened.”

Terry nodded. He was about to dig into a triple-decker burger when he noticed Data Seven sitting next to him, giving him the best impression of puppy dog eyes he could muster, steak gravy smeared all over his snout. Terry sighed. “Fine! Take it, ya mooch!” he grumbled, setting the burger on the ground.

The exchange startles a laugh out of the blonde man, he rests a hand against his forehead, “Data Seven, at least let him eat something!” 

The panther just snorts noisily back, sticking his nose in the air haughtily to dismiss Lucas. Not that the haughtiness lingers as he dips his head down to grab the burger in his mouth. He settles his paws on either side to work on actually eating it without functional hands.

“Swear to Christ, Six must not be feeding you good enough, cuz you’re hungrier than I remember,” Terry mutters, shaking his head. Going back to his own meal, he says to Lucas, “How did you get wrapped up into my daughter’s life, anyway?”

The blonde man gives a slow exhale at that, “I’d ask if you want the long version or the short version, but it's complicated both ways.” He rubs the back of his neck in thought, offering a brief summary of how he met Cybersix. He spares Data Seven a glance as the panther wolfs down the hamburger, leaving a mess in his wake. Even then, the experiment is clearly listening to the conversation. 

“I’m not- anything special, but I’m here to help her. I could have walked away, she certainly wanted me to more than once, but I’m a bit hard headed, hard to get rid of.” He jokingly knocks at his forehead with his knuckles with a flash of a smile. He lets his hands drop back into his lap. “I’ve been helping where I can ever since, even if occasionally things go a little wrong.”

“You look like you could put that hard head to use,” Terry comments. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you could knock Fixed Ideas around with them big ol’ arms you got. Hell, I was scared of even approaching Cyber-6 cause I thought you’d stomp me, and I’m not exactly a weakling, either!” Terry laughs, which elicits laughter from Lucas as well.

Lucas holds his hands palms up in an easy gesture, his laughter turns into easy chuckling. “I’ve done my fair share of fighting Fixed Ideas, Cybersix has more of a handle on them than I do.” Lucas if anything is honest about his own capabilities. “Cybersix also, well, works at the same school I do. José and his lot haven’t noticed Adrian at all, which has been a relief.” He adds, “We’re trying to keep it that way, so Cybersix doesn’t have to live underground.” Data Seven grumbles at that, which earns an apologetic smile from the blonde man, “No offense meant, Data Seven, you know what I mean.” 

The panther just snorts, his attempt to look haughty is ruined by mustard smeared all over his muzzle.

“If only that was so easy for me,” Terry sighed. “José spent years torturing me alongside his ‘father’, so he knows my face well. When I heard he was the crime boss in Meridiana, I almost abandoned any hope of getting into the city, but I’d be damned if I let him come between me and my daughter.”

He bit into another burger from one of the containers. Data Seven got up and tried to give Terry puppy dog eyes again, but the ex-slave wasn’t having it.

“Listen here, Seven,” Terry said sternly. “I ain’t had a proper meal in the damn near 20 days it took me to get to this damn city. I already gave you nearly half of my meals, and I’ll be a long, _ long _ time before you get any more steak if you even _ think _ about trying to steal my food, with your greedy ass!”

Data Seven’s ears flick back against his skull, giving a huffy snort but not pressing the issue any further. He simply moves to flop down and rest is chin on his paws. 

“Look, next time I come down here, I’ll get you something.” Lucas offers to the panther, wanting to keep the peace. “So don’t sulk.” 

The panther grumps back, but seems mollified for now. With that situation resolved for now, Lucas turns his attention back to Terry. “I wish it could be easier for you honestly, all of you deserve better than any of this, but we’ll figure something out, a place for you to live that you’ll be safe.”

“Won’t be safe until that no-eyebrow having, wannabe Fuhrer is put in the ground,” Terry replies between bites of his food. “I nearly ran into a dozen Fixed Ideas earlier; and even if I wasn’t in the shape I’m in now, I still wouldn’t dare attract that many. I ended up ducking into an alleyway, and literally ran over one of Six’s friends in the process.” Terry chuckled at the memory. Had he not been in such a pitiful state, Maura likely would’ve gave him an earful. “José has too many eyes and ears here for me to stay hidden.”

Lucas knows Terry has a point, with José’s increased patrols and further production of Fixed Ideas, the city streets are more perilous than they ever had been. “You and I both know Cybersix isn’t going to-” Lucas waves a hand uncertainly trying to find the right words, “Want you to be in danger, to say the least. She’s going to want you to hide, or at least _ try _ to.” He exhales a little, a hand drifting up to rub the back of his neck. “Normally I’d say you could stay with me, but I’ve already had José break into my home once. I’m not sure if I’m still on his radar in the way you two would be.”

Terry wiped his mouth off with a napkin. “Well, that depends. How close are you to my daughter?”

The question does a fair job of making Lucas sputter audibly, clearly thrown off. “I- uh-” Lucas is a man in his thirties and hadn’t had this kind of question lobbed at him in years. Though he really should have expected this to come up in some capacity given this man is Cybersix’s father. 

“We’re... good friends.” He offers once he finds is actual words again. He shifts a little in his seat, wondering how far the line of questioning is going to go. “I’d do anything for her, even if it’s risky or dangerous. We help each other.”

Terry just chuckled. “If you hadn’t of stuttered, you would’ve sounded convincing.” His chuckling gave way to a sigh. “Listen, Lucas, I’ve been out of Six’s life for at least ten-odd years, and me and you are both grown men around the same age. I’m not going to give you grief if you’re dating my daughter.”

“Still, I, well, the question certainly threw for a loop.” He offers back honestly with a chuckle of his own, his lips quirking upwards into a slight self deprecating kind of smile. The blonde man wasn’t one to lie, even if it would be simpler. Things between himself and Cybersix were, more than a little complicated. With José increased activity, there hadn’t been much time to really _ talk _. 

“We’re taking our time to figure things out.” He adjusts the cuffs of his trench coat as he speaks, “We’re still trying to make sure José’s plans don’t go much further than they have. He’s pushing hard to take ground, we can’t let that happen.” Romance was more secondary in many ways, something they were letting sit on the sidelines.

Terry nodded understandingly. “It’s nice to know she’s got someone trustworthy to watch her back, especially going up against Von Douchecanoe Jr.” Casually, he took a french fry, and flicked it towards Data 7 without even looking in his direction. The panther quickly leaps into the air to catch the unexpected treat. “Out of curiosity, what do you teach at the high school?”

A slight huff of amusement escapes Lucas at the exchange of fry to panther. There is some relief Terry approves in his own way. Lucas wouldn’t want to drive any kind of wedge between daughter and father, the two had been apart long enough as far as he was concerned. “I primarily teach chemistry and sciences, though I do sub in for math on occasion. We’re a little underfunded, so I do a little bit of everything.”

Terry raises an eyebrow. “Chemistry, huh?” he says, his tone hopeful. “Perhaps you could help me with something that could help Six as well.”

Lucas perks up at that, his smile brightening considerably. “Of course- I’d be happy to help.” He runs a hand through his hair, “What do you have in mind-?” 

“What if I told you I’m the only person from Von Reichter’s camp left who still has the Sustenance recipe?” Terry smirks, watching Lucas go wide-eyed. “Before you ask: Yes, I stole it on my way out. Daddy dearest refused to give José the formula to make it on his own, and the little nazi didn’t have the foresight to take a copy of it when he backstabbed him. Right now, I’m assuming José’s running off the remaining Sustenance reserves his daddy gave him.”

The larger man blows out breath, before it turns into a surprised but delighted kind of laugh. Out of anything today, he hadn’t expected _ this _. Lucas and Cybersix knew eventually the supply of Sustenance they had been slowly building up would run out, but hadn’t been able to come up with an actual plan on how to deal with the problem. “I would be more than happy to help with making Sustenance.” He rests a hand against his cheek, “You’re brilliant, you know that? We’ve all been panicking about Sustenance for- ages, and you just solved it.”

“Lucky timing, more than anything,” The father replies. “I would have preferred to have grabbed the plans that would have got her off the shit for good, but Von Reichter took it to the grave with him.”

“Doesn’t surprise me the bastard would take it with him.” Lucas muses with a snort and slow shake of his head. “Lucky timing or not, it’s definitely going to help matters.”

Terry nodded. “We need a vial of the stuff in order to start working on making more, but we’ll be able to work faster with the formula and the right tools.” Right then, there was a knock at the door. Lucas got up from his chair to see who it was, while Data 7 immediately got defensive, and got in front of Terry just in case, letting out a low growl.

“It’s me, sorry for the delay.” Cybersix’s voice is fairly relaxed as she calls out through the door. 

Lucas steps aside holding the door open for the woman. She’s changed into her black bodysuit and wide brimmed hat at this point. Her cape is pulled close around her for the moment as she steps into the room. 

“Hopefully Lucas and Data Seven haven’t been driving you too crazy, dad.” She teases a little, earning an indignant sound from Data Seven as he flops from defensive to lazy lump at Terry’s feet. Lucas chuckles a little, closing the door behind her, “Only a little crazy, really.” The dark haired woman shot the man an amused look before drifting over to where Terry is seated. Her lips curl into a warm smile, “Dad, did you get a chance to finally eat-?”

“Barely.” Terry cast a mock glare at Data Seven. “Data Seven’s been trying to mooch off me as soon as he saw the food.” The panther grumbles a bit, but otherwise remains prone. “But both of them have been great company. Did José’s goons hold you up?”

She nods a little, resting a hand against her hip casually. “I ran into a few Fixed Ideas, but it wasn’t much of a fight. José’s back in his villa, so it was just a patrol without much purpose.” 

Lucas’ expression shifts to something concerned, “You’re alright-?” 

Cybersix huffs out a slight laugh. She pulls a vial of Sustenance from a pocket in her suit, wiggling it in Lucas direction. “More than alright. We’ll get to add this to our stockpile.”

Terry chuckles. “Might not have to rob for Sustenance much longer, baby girl. I’ve got the one thing José wishes he had.” Terry reaches into his jacket pocket, and pulls out a roll of papers, giving them to Cybersix. “The Sustenance recipe.”

Cybersix’s eyes widen at that, her gaze snapping upwards from the roll of papers she was unfurling back to Terry. “Dad- daddy, you’re serious?” Her gaze drops back to the paper reading over the information laid out plainly before her. “Oh my god.”

“We’re gonna figure out how to make it ourselves.” Lucas adds with a grin, “It’ll take some trial and error, but we’ll figure it out.”

She holds the paper against her chest for a moment, eyes closing before gingerly rolling the papers closed to set them aside. She steps forward around Data Seven to just pull Terry into a hug. She’s likely pulled Terry up with the hug with her strength. “Daddy, I owe you a lot of these, not just for the recipe.”

“Likewise, baby,” Terry replies, returning the hug. “It’s been far too long. I thought you might’ve ended up in that fireball at Von Dickhead’s lab, but I’m glad I was wrong.”

Cybersix just holds onto her dad for a moment in a firm embrace, only pulling back slightly to smile down at him. “I’m a bit hard to kill, José is going to keep learning that lesson the longer he tries to take over this city.” The determination on her features does soften into something a little more playful as she adds. “Still going strong on those nicknames, huh, dad?”

“I’m guessing this is a long running in-joke?” Lucas questioned idly from where he’s standing. 

“To say the least.” She answers with a brief glance back at the blonde man, “It’s how I learned more than a few curse words when he forgot himself.” She teasingly boops Terry’s nose.

“I regret nothing,” Terry chuckles briefly, before turning serious again. “José’s increased push for control is probably because he knows he’s on a time limit, too. He neglected to grab this before he escaped back to Meridiana, and without the knowledge of making it, on top of using it to make more Fixed Ideas and whatever other creatures he has, he’s going to run out; which is the last thing he needs, since he lives off the stuff, too.”

Cybersix gives a slow nod, her expression shifting to a serious frown as she speaks. “I had a feeling from how desperate some of his plans have started to become, but the confirmation is something of a relief.” She takes a step or two back, moving to pick up the recipe, half afraid to leave it be at this point. “He doesn’t have that over us now.”

Lucas looks between daughter and father for a moment, “Are we just going to wait him out on this-?” 

Cybersix winces a little, turning her attention towards the blonde man. “That is a bit of a loaded question, Lucas. Sustenance withdrawal is… a terrible thing.” She wraps her arms around herself at the lingering memories of the few times she had been on the edge of that herself. “José is likely to get worse when he finally runs low enough. We’ll see what real desperation will be like when that happens.”

“So, we can expect even worse things from him at that point, got it.” The blonde man answers with an open grimace.

“Can’t the police do anything?” Terry asked. “Fixed Ideas are tough, but even they can’t survive a bullet to their vitals.”

Lucas shrugs a little, the topic bringing a touch of a frustrated frown to his features. “They’re definitely trying, but José has sunk his claws in the local underworld, which makes things well, more complicated at times.” He tucks his hands into his trench coat pockets. 

“Complicated seems to be the only way to describe it.” Cybersix muses with a soft exhale, her brows knitting together. “We’ve shaken up enough of José’s money making schemes that it’s helped at least.” 

Lucas gives a nod at that, glad they had that much of a foothold so far. Even if it’s unlikely to last. “Guess you could say we’re at a bit of a standstill on both sides.” 

“We just need to push it, somehow.” Cybersix agrees with a frown of her own.

“Then why not lure him into a trap?” Terry offers. “If we can poke at that ego enough, he’ll try to fight us on his own.”

Cybersix and Lucas share a brief look before the man speaks. “It shouldn’t be too hard, really. The kid is all ego.” 

“The fact I’m running around still is already angering him as it is. I’m sure if we do enough prodding, it could get him to chase us anywhere.” Cybersix tips the brim of her hat back in thought. 

“Real question is what the trap is going to be. We need to really think this through.” Lucas for his part is drawing a blank on what they can do, beyond keeping José locked up somewhere. The actual trap itself is just a mystery at the moment.

“We’ve got plenty of time to plan out the trap,” Terry replies. “I don’t think José is gonna do anything drastic yet, but we need help if we want to pull this off.” He looked at his daughter. “Do you have any connections on the force, by chance? Beat cops, detectives, or even a P.I. would be useful.”

Cybersix’s lips curled into a bright smile, Lucas seems to understand what she’s thinking and laughs a little himself. Cybersix tips her hat back as she speaks. “I think I know just the person who could help us. I know for a fact, he’d be more than happy to help us with our current José problem.”


	2. Old Faces

“Are you sure this mask is necessary?”

“It’s either this, or get recognized, and chased around the city by Fixed Ideas, Dad.”

“Touché.”

A few hours had passed since the once-estranged family’s chance reunion at the cafe. Cybersix had initially elected to go see Detective Yashimoto on her own, but both Lucas and her father objected, knowing José’s goons would follow her to his apartment. Cybersix then decided to go incognito as Adrian to avoid attention, which the men also protested, but quickly relented when she asked them for a better idea.

Nonetheless, Terry, ever the protective dad, insisted on going with her to meet the detective himself. Cybersix reluctantly agreed, knowing he likely wouldn’t budge, but said he’d need to cover his face to avoid being recognized, resulting in him wearing a black cloth mask over the lower half of his face as they walked to Yashimoto’s apartment.

“It’s hard as hell to breathe in this thing, though,” Terry continued as he tugged on the mask. “I can’t imagine anyone wearing these things regularly.”

“I don’t know, I see a few students at the school wearing them,” Adrian spoke as they rounded a corner. “Apparently, it’s a popular fashion statement in parts of Asia.”

Terry looked at him skeptically. “Since when?”

Adrian just shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine; I just know it became popular here the last couple of years. I think the boy bands in Korea wear them or something, I don’t remember. I don’t keep up with trends much.”

A dry snort escapes Terry’s nose. “Not even literature trends?”

Adrian elbows his father gently. “I _ have _ to follow those,” he said. “It’s kinda required, with my job and all. And I _ do _ like finding new things to read, even if some of them are… _ crude _.” He chose his last word carefully, as if he was afraid of cursing in his dad’s presence.

“I hope you haven’t gotten to the point where you read erotica in your spare time,” Terry replies half-jokingly, earning him another elbow from Adrian.

“I believe you raised me to have higher standards than that,” the shorter man laughed. “And since when did _ you _ know anything about that?”

“Let’s just say José often forgot to put his books away in their proper places,” Terry chuckled. “The kid has odd tastes. I remember one of his books had something to do with shades of grey...”

“Spare me the details,” Adrian said dryly. He had read the book once on a dare from Lucas, and eventually couldn’t bring himself to finish it without vomiting from the horrendous writing, something that Lucas still wouldn’t let him live down.

Eventually, the family had made it to Yashimoto’s apartment without running into any Fixed Ideas on the way. Adrian walked up to the doorway, and rang the buzzer to the detective’s apartment. The intercom crackled to life as Yashimoto’s voice flowed through the speaker. _ “Who is it?” _

“It’s Adrian, Adrian Seidelman,” the teacher said. “Can I come up? It’s important.”

_ “Adrian…? Oh, of course!” _ Confusion, followed by recognition, was evident in the detective’s voice. _ “Though I should warn you, Julian’s here with Ikiko, and I’m not sure if he... Y’know…” _ he trails off, knowing Adrian would get the message.

“I understand, but I think he knows how to keep a secret,” Adrian replied.

_ “Alright then, come on up.” _

The buzzer sounded, signifying that the door was unlocked. “Miao lives on the fourth floor,” Adrian said to Terry as he opened the door. “Are you okay enough to walk up there?”

“More than when I first got here,” Terry chuckled. “I’m curious to meet the detective that gave my child a run for their money.”

Adrian blows out a short amused sound as he holds the door open for Terry. “Miao will definitely keep you on your toes, trust me.” He says easily enough. “He has that effect on everyone.”

“That so? Has he worked with you beyond that one time you told me about?” Terry asked as they walked inside the complex.

The dark haired man easily falls in step with his father, smiling a little wryly. “More like his reputation carries. He keeps a relatively low profile, but Meridiana isn’t _ that _ big. People like to talk. Particularly teenagers.” He rolls his eyes somewhat fondly as they make their way to the stairwell. “Outside of that, he and I do talk occasionally. Not often, but, occasionally.”

“He must be an exceptional kid to have that big of a reputation, nonetheless” Terry noted. “Anyone who can make a fool out of José is a friend in my book.”

Adrian slows a little to be sure he doesn’t get too far ahead of his father on the stairwell. Terry said he’s fine, but it doesn’t make Adrian any less worried about his dad. “I’m sure you two are going to have plenty to talk about outside of that too.” Adrian muses, expression warming a little as the pair walk up the stairs together.

Slowly, the duo made their way to the detective’s apartment, Miao’s apartment right in front of them. Taking the lead, Adrian walked forward, and knocked on the door. There were sounds of shuffling and chairs moving inside, before the door opened to reveal a young Asian man wearing coke bottle glasses, and hair shaved off at the sides. He grinned widely at Adrian, but it soon gave way to surprise when he saw Terry standing right behind him.

“Hey, Adrian,” Miao said slightly warily, not taking his eyes off Terry. “Uh, who’s your friend there?”

“This is my father, Terry,” Adrian explained, trying to stifle a laugh at Miao’s expression. “He’s actually the reason I came over today.”

For his obvious surprise Miao adjusts fairly quickly, “Oh, I see-” He looks between the two again as Adrian chuckles somewhat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Terry. I hadn’t realized… Well, you hadn’t come up.” He pauses with a grimace at how awkward that came out. All Adrian can do is laugh a little again.

“We never did talk about my family in the first place.” He says smoothing over the other man’s awkwardness, “Can we come in, Miao?”

“Oh!” He opens the door more widely, stepping to the side to let the two come into the apartment proper. “Yes, of course. I’m sure we all have much to talk about.”

The father and son walked into Miao’s apartment, taking in the surroundings. It was a bit small, but good enough for an independent teenager and his young sister. Terry noticed all of the art pieces that were tacked all over the walls of the apartment. Many of them were very crisp and professional looking, while some seemed to be a bit more simplistic, but no less colorful.

“Is this all your art?” Terry asked Miao, gesturing to the drawings.

Miao rubs the back of his neck somewhat bashfully as he flicks his gaze towards the artwork on display around the apartment. “Ah, yes, some of it. Others are collaborations with my sister.” He says easily enough, his expression softens to some degree. “A family that creates together stays together.”

Adrian’s lips quirk into a smile at that as he steals a glance back at Terry. An unspoken touch of nostalgia settled on his features. “Ikiko is quite the artist in the making.” Adrian motions easily at one of the simpler colorful pieces with a hand.

That brightens Miao up considerably, talking about his little sister is clearly the best course to make the man relax a little more around Terry. “Yes! She has the most creative spirit, even if we end up making quite a mess by the end of certain projects.”

Terry laughs heartily. “Sounds like me and Adrian years ago,” he said. “They always had their hands in something, especially my old strings, trying to learn the cat’s cradle. More often than not, they always made a mess, though.”

Adrian huffs in some amusement at that, “I learned the cats cradle _ eventually _.” He says jokingly back. “I won’t deny the messes though.” Adrian remembered making more than his fair share of messes as a child. The other children in the village were always eager to help him in making all of the messes possible. A new child who had grown up in relative isolation had been someone to teach new tricks to or try to trick.

“Ah, yes, _ eventually _.” Miao offers back with his own chuckle. “All things take time to learn, even with trial and error. Ikkio is still learning that herself now.” He motions for the two to follow him to a slight hallway with a few closed doors lining either side. “Let's discuss things in my office.”

The two men can hear Ikkio and Julian’s voices from behind another door as a game unfolds between them. Miao shakes his head, slowing his walk to his office to knock against the door. “Inside voices.” The two children call out an apologetic chorus of, “Sorry!” before going quieter.

Miao opens the door to his office, letting the small family in first before taking a seat next to his work computer. “I guess it goes without saying, but I’m pretty surprised at this development,” Miao said to his guests. “I was under the impression Adrian had no other family in Meridiana besides that _ brat _ and his ‘father’.”

Terry let out a deep sigh at the implied mention of the Von Reichters. “Well, that was largely because I was forced into their employ for a few decades, and some change,” Terry explained. “I’ll spare you the sordid details, but I became Adrian’s guardian when I saved them from being wiped out with the rest of their siblings at those bastards’ hands. We stayed in a fishing village for a few years, but Von Reichter eventually found us, and I fought his men off to give Adrian enough time to escape. They made it to Meridiana, but I was shackled and dragged back to his compound. We didn’t cross paths again until I made it here to the city earlier today.”

Miao’s lips pull into a thin line as he contemplates Terry’s words. “I wish we had known of you sooner…” He says quietly, genuine regret clear in his voice as his brows pinch together. He shakes his head, blowing out a breath. “Regardless, I’m glad you are here now, with your family. You’re much safer here, even with the creations wandering around even now.” 

“It could be even safer, which is, where we hoped you would be able to help.” Adrian states simply back, briefly looking to Terry before carrying onwards. “We’re having a bit of a Fixed Idea problem. If they see dad, well, they’re going to chase him.”

Miao wrinkles his nose somewhat at that, “Well, I had wondered about the mask, but, I thought you were a little sick.” He shrugs a little. “How can I help you two?”

“We need help formulating a plan to take out José,” Adrian continued. “Normally, I’d have gone to Enrique as well, but his unit is busy enough dealing with the increased influx of Fixed Ideas roaming the streets, not to mention that some of the Meridiana police are in his pocket.”

“The idea is to lure him into a trap, but we need to do it in a way where either his creations can’t run interference, or do something to hurt his ego enough that he’ll take us on personally,” Terry added. “But we have no idea what the lure or endgame would look like.”

A thoughtful sound escapes the Japanese man as he tents his fingers together. “I’d be more than happy to help you with this.” He leans back into his office chair, mulling over the situation. “Well, the most obvious lure is,” He motions at Adrian vaguely as he continues speaking, “with Data Seven as well, if not yourself, Terry. Not that I’d recommend you put yourself in direct danger. José is predictable as he is unpredictable at times. His temper can make things risky. He’s a vengeful little _ thing _ when crossed.” Some disdain drips into his tone as he speaks of José.

Terry just laughs. “I don’t think Adrian would let me put my neck out there, even if I wanted to,” he says humorously before turning serious again. “But I know what you mean first hand. Little bastard can hold a grudge for the pettiest of things.”

“But that still brings back the question of how do we lure _ just _ him out in the open,” Adrian interjected. “As much as I’m a thorn in his side, He’d just keep sending Fixed Ideas after me.”

Miao drummed his fingers on his desk as he tried to think of a solution. “You said José was also a creation of Von Reichter’s, right?” he asked Adrian.

The teacher nodded, adjusting his glasses. “Yes, he’s a biological clone of Von Reichter, but he was kept in perpetual childhood, and lives off Sustenance to keep him from double crossing his father…” Adrian couldn’t help but snort in petty amusement as he began to smirk. “Though I guess he didn’t count on José’s greed being a bigger motivator.”

Miao felt a smirk of his own form on his face. “Then I think I have the solution to our Josè problem.” He said confidently.

“What did you have in mind?” Terry asked the teenager curiously.

“It’s simple: If we can locate and destroy his supply of Sustenance, he’ll go ballistic enough to face us on his own,” Miao replied. “Without daddy dearest supplying him, he’s probably being extremely conservative with the amount he has left.”

“That’s what we’re assuming as well,” Terry said. “The only question is where is he keeping it?”

Adrian ran a hand through his hair. “In his villa,” he said matter-of-factly. “He basically runs everything out of there, even some experiments.”  
  
“So of course it’ll be heavily guarded,” Terry sighed. Adrian rubbed his father’s back reassuringly.

“Nothing a distraction can’t fix, Dad,” Adrian said. “Me and Data 7 can distract him and whatever Fixed Ideas that come our way, while Miao and Lucas figure out where he’s keeping the Sustenance and destroy it.”

“You’d still have to be careful,” Terry replied. “Sustenance will instantly corrode through anything Von Douchebag didn’t make himself.”

“Understood.” Miao answers with a nod, he rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t want to see just what Sustenance can do to either of us.”

Adrian wrinkles his nose somewhat, clearly remembering something having gone wildly wrong given the expression that plays on his face. “You… definitely don’t want to see. Trust me on that.”

The Japanese man releases a breathy kind of laugh, “Well, that’s comforting.” He waves the thought away as quickly as it comes. “The villa was there before, José took the building, so, maybe I can find some old building plans to go off of. So Lucas and I are not completely charging in blindly.”

“I can at least say, José likely expanded it below ground. So it won’t be the most stable building.” Adrian offers with a shake of his head. “José wouldn’t think about that bigger picture.”

“Wonderful, a possibly collapsing building on top of everything else.” Miao offers somewhat dryly back, though he seemed to like the challenge of it all. He adjusts his glasses as he spares his computer a quick glance before flicking his gaze back to father and son, “I’ll be sure to pick through plans a little later, I’ll send it to Lucas as well so we’re all on the same page.”

“There’s just one thing I’m not sold on,” Terry interjected. “How do we plan on destroying his supply? Like I said, it won’t burn through anything Von Asshole created, so whatever José is storing it in would have to be heavy duty.”

“Depending on how heavy duty it is, we could ask Enrique if we can borrow something to break through the vats.” Miao speculates, tapping his index finger against his chin. “He _ does _ owe me a favor.”

“I’m not even going to ask.” The dark haired man shakes his head a little, mentally trying to go over what options they do have at their disposal. “We can’t rely on what’s likely down there either to break the vats. So asking him wouldn’t hurt. If he can’t, we’ll have to parse that out ourselves.”

“Would it be a stretch to assume the brat has explosives lying around?” Terry asked. “From what Adrian’s told me about his encounters with him, he seems to like blowing stuff up.”

Miao leans back into his chair, tapping his chin. “That’s pretty… No, that’s _ extremely _ likely, knowing José,” he says. “But unless we _ really _ have no other options, I’d discourage it simply for the fact that it could bring the entire villa down on us before we could escape.”

Adrian crosses his arms loosely over his chest as he looks between Yashimoto and Terry. “I’d personally prefer not to lose anyone during this. Knowing José, the whole building is likely to go up in flames with how many explosives he has on hand. So, any weapons that could set something off is a bad idea.”

“Well, that takes any guns out of the equation.” Yashimoto huffs somewhat. “Do you have any ideas?”

Adrian scratches his head, trying to think of something that didn’t involve the whole place coming down, when something finally clicked in his head. “That’s it!” he exclaimed.

“What is?” Terry asked.

“We might have a way of breaking the vats!” Adrian replied excitedly. “And Lucas has access to the stuff we’d need, so there’s no hoops for us, either!”

“Then lay it on us,” Miao said, smiling. “We’re all ears.” 

* * *

In the heart of Meridiana, José von Reichter was inside the basement of his villa, stomping around angrily… as angrily one could while goose-stepping, anyhow. The last few weeks had not been kind to him, to say the very least. While he harbored no regrets about killing his own father, he did not realize how shortsighted his betrayal was until the effects became obvious.

The first and immediate hit was his Sustenance supply. Normally, he would have been given some by his father; but with him out of the picture, and not having the knowledge of how to make it himself, not only did he not have a Sustenance supplier, he was dangerously low on it. In addition, the lack of a Sustenance reserve meant he had to be _ very _ conservative with making new monsters, limiting him to Fixed Ideas, and the odd Techno. Combine that with Cybersix somehow surviving the blast, and _ still _ mowing down his ranks, and you had one very pissed off José.

“I wish I could strangle that meddlesome bitch myself!” Jose growled as he goose-stomped through the basement with his assistant. “Why couldn’t she have gone up in flames with my father, too?! At least then, I wouldn’t have to waste the little Sustenance we have left!”

Sylvester, José’s second in command, watched his boss warily as he continued to fume. While José was a clone of his father, and had the brains to show it, he still acted like a bratty child due to the original Von Reichter’s engineering. And he knew from experience that José had no problem hitting you with whatever he could get his hands on if he was mad enough.

“She has a surprising knack for cheating death,” Sylvester notes. “But we can’t just go at her with reckless abandon like before, you know that.”

José gives Sylvester a glare that could melt steel. “I am _ quite _ well aware of that, you _ nitwit _ !” José screams in rage. He seethes for a moment, before forcing himself to calm down. “While I can’t deny the fact that not grabbing a copy of the Sustenance formula was shortsighted on my end, I didn’t think the blasted stuff would be _ impossible _ to reverse engineer!”

“Perhaps your father made it that way so none of his creations could survive on their own and use it against him if they rebelled,” Sylvester suggests cautiously. “Granted, it doesn’t solve our problem, but it’s not surprising, since he had a failsafe for almost every situation possible.”

José begins to fume again, but says nothing, silently conceding that Sylvester was likely right. He could count on one hand how many of his father’s creations did not require any Sustenance, and still have plenty of room left over. And the few who _ did _ successfully turn on his father, himself included, still needed Sustenance to live, so he couldn’t quite fault him for making sure nobody could copy it.

“Still, we need to figure out _ some _ way of reverse engineering it,” José counters. “We can’t keep wasting the little we have left on Fixed Ideas to go after Cybersix, and we already used a good chunk of it keeping _ her _ in stasis after bringing her back. Speaking of which…”

The duo stopps in front of a giant vat near the end of the basement. Inside, a humanoid creature with bluish skin and large ears was hooked up to breathing tubes, her eyes closed as the Sustenance swirled around her.

“I think it’s time we send her on a field test,” José finishes.

“Are you sure about this, José?” Sylvester asks cautiously. “I know it’s been a while since we revived her, but we have no idea-- _ urk! _” He’s interrupted by José grabbing him by the collar, and forcibly pulling him down to meet him at eye level.

“I’m well aware of the risks, you moron!” José bellowed. “And if I had my way, I’d hold off on doing this, but I can’t afford to with Cybersix mowing down my ranks, and using them as a source for Sustenance!” José lets go of Sylvester, and walks over to a nearby button, slamming it down with his hand.

“Cybersix is enough of a threat now to completely ruin our operation,” José said as the Sustenance drains out of the vat. “If I don’t do something now, we could all potentially be dead by next month.”

Soon, the Sustenance was completely gone, and the woman opened her eyes, revealing orange sclera, and black cat-like pupils darting around in confusion. José grins evilly as the vat began to open up.

“Welcome back, Griselda.”


	3. Marina Mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old foe returns for Cybersix's blood, and Yashimoto proves why he's considered a legend in Meridiana.

About two weeks had passed since Terry had arrived in Meridiana and reunited with Cybersix. With a little help from Lucas and Miao, Cybersix had managed to get Terry an apartment not far from hers in the city; though her father still only ventured outdoors sparingly to avoid any Fixed Ideas. Lucas, meanwhile, had loaned him some old clothes to wear until they were able to take him shopping. For his part, Terry took in as many sights and sounds around the city as he could, having largely been deprived of the outside world since being forced into the Von Reichter’s employ.

On this particular day, Terry made a rare venture outside, and joined Lucas and Adrian on a casual lunch date at their usual cafe spot. Terry leans back in his chair as both of the teachers regale him about their lives and adventures around Meridiana, though taking care not to speak too loudly for other patrons to hear them.

“...So, with the eye hypnotizing itself, and going haywire, it only made it harder to stop,” Adrian says, himself leaning back into his own chair as he sips his coffee. Lucas, silently observing Adrian’s body language, mentally notes how much more relaxed he was whenever his father was around. “Thankfully, I remembered Lucas’ liquid nitrogen experiment, and used it to freeze the eye.”

Terry smirks, and lets out a low chuckle. “And I assume it was José who did the ‘honor’ of blowing it to pieces?”

Adrian laughs softly. “Perceptive,” he replies. “Though, I don’t think I would have been able to stop that eye without Lucas’ help, even if it was indirect.”

Lucas just chuckles and scratches the back of his head lightly, twirling the pasta on his plate around with his fork. “I think you give me too much credit for that, Adrian,” he says easily. “Granted, you were _ inspired _ by it, but that was all _ you _. I was out cold for all of it.”

The smaller man snorts lighty. “Yes, but if I hadn't seen you do the experiment, I never would have figured out how to stop it.”

“Still, _ you _ put it all together.” Lucas states back with a flash of a grin before raising his fork to his mouth to pop the pasta into his mouth. “I’m going to keep saying as much.” He continues mid-chew as he waggles his fork back in Adrian’s direction. 

Adrian rolls his eyes fondly, but doesn’t argue the point. The two have seemingly gone in circles on the topic before. He sips at his coffee, hiding a smile against the rim of the mug. Terry just laughs at the exchange between the two close friends.

“Shoot, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two were already married,” Terry chortles, watching the teachers go tomato red at his insinuation as he sipped on his peach drink. “Although, I think if you were, Adrian probably would’ve tamed some of your table manners a bit.” He discreetly glances at a noticeable clump on Lucas’ chest, a result of some of his pasta having fell out during his conversation.

Lucas quickly gets the message, and grabs a napkin to get rid of the incriminating evidence of his poor table manners, covering up his gaffe with a nervous chuckle. Adrian just rolls his eyes again, but is clearly amused at the exchange. There is no denial from either man present. 

“Honestly, this is probably the most restrained he’s been since we started these lunch dates,” Adrian says. “You should see him on a regular day during our breaks.”

“_ Hey _, it isn’t that bad.” 

Adrian arches a slim brow back, not saying anything for a long moment that makes Lucas cough a little awkwardly. He wipes at his mouth again. 

“Okay, it could use some work. _ Some _.” He relents with no real heat, starting to smile just slightly. 

“A decent amount.” Adrian answers back with some finality. The black haired man decided to give Lucas somewhat of a break as he shifts topics. He turns his gaze back to Terry, “Are you _ sure _ you don’t want anything, dad?” He settles his mug back on the table as he shifts in his seat to sit up. “We can get you something to eat.”

“I’m perfectly fine, son,” Terry assures with a gentle smile, before morphing into a playful smirk. “Though I must admit, now was a good time to see if I still got the sleight of hand,” he continues, holding up one of the frosted cinnamon swirls he discretely swiped from Lucas’ plate during their debate. “Clearly, I do.”

Adrian blinks, surprised followed by delighted a moment later as a brief laugh escapes him. He covers a face with a hand. “Dad!” 

“...I-” Lucas stares at the cinnamon swirl in Terry’s hand for a moment before glancing between it and the plate it was snatched from. Confusion shifts into a quiet kind of impressed awe as Lucas shakes his head slowly. “Huh.” 

“You still have it, enjoy your prize, dad.” Adrian teases lightly back, smiling easily at Terry.

Terry laughs victoriously as he breaks off a piece of the pastry. “It’s good to know that my skills grabbing that formula weren’t just pure luck.”

* * *

Some blocks away, Griselda hopped across the rooftops of Meridiana, hidden by a cloaking device given to her by José. She had spent a greater part of the past couple of weeks simply getting used to her body again, and trying to get caught up with everything that happened since her demise. According to José, Cybersix had raided his father’s base, and blew it up, along with him and her “siblings”. The news made Griselda’s normally cold blood boil, and she swore revenge against Cybersix.

The reptilian woman lands on the roof of a bank; but stops, and clutches her head, as her brain begins to throb at the thought of Cybersix. While she had remembered their first fight clearly, her memories of their second fight were completely fuzzy, but she obviously must have lost the fight if she had to be revived. José claimed he didn’t know what had happened, other than he had recovered her body out of a riverbed, but offered to restore her memories if she killed Cybersix.

Griselda, despite herself, snorts at the notion. While José was likely being truthful about not knowing, since she was sent to Meridiana under Von Reichter’s direct orders, she doubted he could repair her brain. Clone of the doctor or not, he had earned a reputation of incompetence with his father long before she was sent out, hence why she originally wasn’t under Josè’s jurisdiction. But now with the original Von Reichter out of the picture, and José likely having the only supply of Sustenance left, she had no choice but to work for him. She couldn’t bite the hand that was feeding her… unlike Cybersix.

“This time, I’m going to make sure she doesn’t have a hope of escaping,” Griselda growled to herself.

Now with renewed determination, Griselda continues traveling across the rooftops of Meridiana as the pain subsides. She knew it was rare for Cybersix to show up during the day, but her pet panther was different. If she could spot him, Cybersix wouldn’t be hard to find.

* * *

The sound of raindrops pattering against the window pane is enough to draw Adrian from the ongoing conversation. Terry and Lucas were hardly deterred, still talking fairly animatedly between one another. At some point Lucas' time as a boxer had come up. Adrian could only somewhat keep up with what was being said.

The dark haired man squints from under his glasses as he watches the sky continue to darken over the buildings nearby. Greenery nearby starts to shudder and shake as a strong wind starts to pick up. The shift in weather wasn’t hard enough to make people outright flee, but outdoor seating was emptying out slowly in nearby cafes. 

“Damn, did we bring umbrellas-?” Adrian questions, pulling Lucas from a brief be it excited discussion of boxing back to the present. The blonde man blinks a little glancing from Adrian towards the window they were seated by. 

“It doesn’t look _ too _ bad yet, Adrian. I think we’ll survive.” 

The bespectacled man huffs a little back, “I’d rather neither of you get sick from the weather.”

“At this point in my life, it would take a bit more than rain to knock me off my feet,” Terry says.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, all things considered,” Lucas mutters half-humorously as he picks his jacket up from his chair. “In any case, we do need to start planning with Miao later, so we should start heading back. Maybe he could help us settle our little debate over Tyson and Ali.”

Terry just laughs, and says, “Maybe another time. I think Adrian was starting to fall asleep during our argument.”

Adrian can’t stop himself from snorting at that, “I _ was _ trying to keep up. You’ll have to excuse me if boxing isn’t quite on my radar.” 

“Give it time, Adrian, you’ll understand it.” Lucas teases readily back with a flash of a grin, he reaches into his pocket to dig up his wallet. “Lemme cover the tip and we’ll head out.” 

“I’ll handle it next time, Lucas.” Adrian states with a quick nod, “If I get to learn about boxing, you’re both going to have to hear me out about what I’m reading.” 

The blonde chuckles at that, but doesn’t seem opposed to the idea as he opens his wallet, fishing out a few bills to lay out on the table. “Just keep it in layman's terms, and we’ll see.”

After paying the bill, the trio exits the café, and begins heading back to Adrian’s place, with Terry quickly putting his mask back on as soon as they stepped outside. Meanwhile, a few buildings away, Griselda, still cloaked, lands on a roof, cursing her luck at finding Data 7.

“I guess I underestimated that giant fleabag,” she reluctantly concedes as she glances down at the streets below. “I’m just wasting my time wandering around this godforsaken place during the day; I’ll just go report back to José, and…”

Griselda trails off when she sees the trio walking down the street, and is immediately fixated on Adrian, who was chatting up his father. Her brain begins to throb as she stares at the teacher.

_ Who _ is _ that? And why do I feel like I know him…? _ Griselda thinks to herself as she clutches her head again. The pain soon gets unbearable, to the point where Griselda falls to her knees, groaning in pain. “Argh… Damn it! What’s happening...?!”

* * *

_ She had followed the panther into a rural part of Meridiana, taking care not to make any noise that would alert the panther to her presence. For whatever reason, it had decided to follow a group of students and teachers going on a field trip, which struck her as interesting. Cybersix was clearly too old to convincingly pass as a student, but a teacher was a different story. _

_ Eventually, the panther had made it to the camping grounds the school arrived at. It kept its distance, but it made enough noise to eventually attract the attention of one of the teachers. She stayed in the trees, observing the panther’s actions. Soon, a male teacher had made their way into the bush to investigate the noise, but quickly noticed the panther, and embraced it. Griselda got suspicious, and moved in closer, but didn’t act, having been told that Cybersix had a human sidekick that frequently helped her out as well. It was only when “he” pulled his sleeve up, and revealed the “Cyber 6” tattoo on his left arm, did she get the motivation to go for the kill. _

_ “I’ve got you now, Cybersix.” _

* * *

Griselda growls as the pain subsides once more. “That’s right,” she spat venomously as she got back to her feet. “She hides herself from the world during the day as a man. No matter.” She loads up the grappler attached to her wrist. “She can’t hide from me.”

Swiftly, Griselda leaps off the roof, and onto the rainy streets of Meridiana, directly in front of the group. In the blink of an eye, she tackled Adrian, and began hopping back to the rooftops, completely throwing Terry and Lucas off their feet in surprise. Adrian could barely comprehend what was happening as he and his unknown assailant flew through the sky, but didn’t have much time to think, as he was rudely slammed into the roof of a building, his glasses flying off from the impact. A demented cackle echos in the air.

“Judging from the look on your face, this was the last thing you expected today, Cybersix,” Griselda said, still invisible from sight.

The cyber’s mouth opens and closes in shock as the familiarity of the voice hits him all at once, “Gris-Griselda?” He stumbles over her name as his eyes dart around in an attempt to pick out just where she is. 

He twists around quickly trying to get his footing back under him as he stands. The slippery rooftop only makes it much harder than it needs to be. “I thought- you’re _ alive _?” He’s torn between relief and confusion given the other experiment attacking him like this.

“That’s right, Cybersix!” Griselda promptly de-cloaks in front of Adrian, grinning maniacally as she aims her grappling hook at his head. “Frankly, I’m as surprised as you are; but Von Reichter’s kid managed to bring me back at one-hundred precent! His only request was that I’d pay you back for killing me, our creator _ and _ our siblings, in exchange for Sustenance. Honestly, I’d have done that for _ free _!” She cackles again.

Adrian’s relief drops completely as Griselda takes aim at his head. He barely is able to dodge out of the way. The slippery surface of the rooftop being enough of an aid in sending him sliding further away from the grappling hook claw. He manages to dig his heels in best he can to come to a complete stop. “Do you- not remember what happened?” He calls out in frustration as he whips around to face where she had been. It wouldn’t surprise him if Griselda disappeared from sight again.

Adrian is answered by a hard hit to the back of his head, and is sent stumbling across the rooftop. “Of _ course _ I do!” Griselda growled, cloaked once again. “I tracked you down at the city outskirts, and fought you in the woods; and you beat me by...” Griselda paused, trying to ignore the pain in her head flaring up. “...It doesn’t matter! You killed our family, and now I’m going to pay you back in _ blood _!”

The dark haired man bites the inside of his cheek as he tries to quickly right himself. Any hesitation on his part won’t help the situation. Griselda won’t hesitate to kill him. 

“Do you remember what else happened?!” He calls out stubbornly as he tenses up. He tries to listen for her footsteps, but the rain coming down does a fair job of obscuring the sound on the hard surface of the rooftop. “Or are you blindly trusting _ José _ of all people?” He backs off the best he can, using the wet rooftop to his advantage to slide more easily around in his work shoes. The heels he knows how to run in at high speed, but loafers soaking in water is a different matter altogether.

“Oh, believe me, Von Reichter never shied away from complaining about José’s less than stellar record,” Griselda laughs. “But he was there when you destroyed our father’s lab, and he barely escaped himself. What would he gain from lying about _ that _?”

“Your blind obedience, for starters,” Adrian counters, not letting his guard down for a second as he slides around. Glancing to his right, he could make out a vaguely humanoid shape between the raindrops, and quickly takes note of its movement. “If there’s something Josè loves more than money, or even my death, it’s control!”

“Even so, if it means being able to avenge Von Reichter and our siblings, then I’m more than willing to tolerate him!” Griselda shouts, charging at the Cyber. Adrian, still tracking her movements through the raindrops, moves out of the way, and sticks his foot, out hoping to hit paydirt. He was rewarded with a surprised yelp, and the sound of a body stumbling across the rooftop, his gamble successful.

Griselda hisses angrily, mad at herself for falling for such a simple counterattack. Wasting little time, she gets back to her feet, and aims her grappling hook at Adrian once more. Unfortunately for her, it still had the side effect of making the gauntlet containing it visible. Adrian, having anticipated it, slips out of the way of the hook as it launches at him, and grabs onto the cord, surprising Griselda long enough for Adrian to yank the cord with all his strength, pulling Griselda clean off her feet towards him.

Before the experiment could fully react, she felt Adrian’s foot connect with her midsection, sending her tumbling across the roof, until she regained her footing. Griselda hissed as she decloaked, glaring daggers at Adrian, who simply glared back.

“I don’t know what José did to you when he brought you back, but if you won’t listen to reason, then I’ll have to beat it into you!” Adrian shouts, getting into a fighting stance.

“Big words from an endangered species!” Griselda cackles, lunging at Adrian with an overhead punch. The teacher quickly slips out of the way of the punch, and attempts to counter with a knee strike, but it’s immediately blocked by Griselda, who throws a right hook at Adrian that he also ducks under. He tries to go for a hook of his own, but Griselda dodges it, and tries to throw a roundhouse kick at his head, but misses. Soon, the rooftop was nothing but a blur of strikes being parried or dodged.

Meanwhile, Lucas and Terry manage to haul themselves up onto the roof of a nearby building, via a fire escape.

“Any sign of them?” Lucas breathes out as he looks around, worry written sharply in his features as he shields his eyes from the rain with a hand. The darkening skies overhead don’t make it any easier to spot where the fight could be taking place. It was one of the few times Lucas wished Adrian wore as dramatic of a cape in his day life as much as he did in his nightlife. It would make spotting him much easier. The flash of red was something the blonde man was more attuned for at this point. Thunder cracks in the distance, lighting the sky just for a moment.

Terry frantically scans the rooftops for his child. He knew if one of Von Reichter’s remaining creatures recognized Adrian in disguise, it would spell disaster for all of them. A flash of teal catches Terry’s eye, prompting him to look eastward; and saw Adrian on a building two streets away, fighting with Griselda. “Over there!” Terry calls out, pointing the building out to Lucas. The blonde man rushes over to witness the fight. Adrian appeared to be holding his own, but the other woman wasn’t giving him an inch.

“Dammit, we’re too far away to be of any help!” Lucas groans, running his hands through his drenched hair. He hated feeling useless whenever Adrian was in serious danger. “And I don’t think there’s a way up to that roof, either. We’re pretty much stuck.”

“We’ll think of something,” Terry says as they watch the fight intensely. “I’m not leaving my child a sitting duck over there.” By now, Adrian had landed a few solid blows on Griselda, and managed to knock her down long enough to escape by hopping across the rooftops. Griselda, however, didn’t stay down for long; and quickly gave chase to Adrian, cloaking themselves once more. Lucas and Terry both groan in frustration at the turn of events.

“Great, they could be headed anywhere now!” Terry yells over the wind and thunder. Lucas, meanwhile, pulls out his cellphone.

“Don’t lose hope just yet!” replies Lucas, as he dials a number. “We might not be able to follow them ourselves, but if I’m right about where they’re going, I know who can!” If Lucas was being honest, this was a long shot; but with no wheels or genetically enhanced leg strength to get them around, he had to throw a hail mary, and hope it scored.

After a few tense moments of ringing, a voice spoke through the phone. _ “Yashimoto Detective Agency, Miao speaking.” _

The blonde haired man sighs in mild relief before answering. “Miao, it’s Lucas Amato! Someone just tried to kidnap Adrian in broad daylight!”

The detective could be heard sputtering in disbelief on the other end. _ “Huh?! What happened?!” _

“Apparently, José’s been keeping closer tabs on us than we thought,” Lucas answers as he follows Terry down the fire escape. “He sent someone with a cloaking device to do the job, and they bum rushed us. Adrian fought them off, but now they’re chasing him down towards the Marina district across the rooftops.”

_ “Say no more,” _ the detective replied firmly. _ “I’ll do my best to catch up to them as fast as possible.” _ And with that, the call ended.

* * *

Adrian continues to leap across the rooftops of Meridiana, doing everything he could to not lose his footing on the slippery surfaces, and tries not to think about what would happen if he _ did _ slip. Knowing Griselda is likely cloaked again, and waiting to strike, he keeps hopping buildings at a blinding pace as he moves towards the marina. Griselda may have been a crack shot with that grappling hook, but even she would have trouble hitting a constantly moving target. He’s counting on that much to keep his head on his shoulders. 

The assassin grew increasingly frustrated at the chase Adrian was giving her, but knew he couldn’t run forever. Either he would slip up, or reach a gap even he couldn’t close. So, despite her burning desire to try and kill him right now, Griselda simply stays cloaked, and continues to chase the teacher; knowing the moment to kill would come sooner than later.

A fair distance away, Miao, grappling hook and helmet in tow, exits his home, and hops on his bicycle, silently praying he wouldn’t be too late as he pedals furiously down the hill. The Marina district wasn’t too far from his house, but only God knew exactly what Adrian was dealing with. As soon as he got more than enough speed, he veers left, and leaps off an incline, giving him enough airtime to land on the nearby rooftops. Lighting strikes as he makes his way across each structure.

Adrian keeps up the chase for what feels like hours, though it gets increasingly harder due to both the rain and darkened skies obstructing his vision, and Griselda getting closer all the while. Making another giant leap between buildings, Adrian lands on top of a hotel, but the slick surface created by the rainfall causes the teacher to lose his footing. He lets out a surprised yell as he suddenly finds himself briefly going airborne, before his back promptly slams down onto the roof. Adrian can feel the remaining air in his lungs immediately expel as he makes contact with the roof, and for a second, he didn’t know where he was. He quickly snaps back to reality when all too familiar laughter fills his ears as a silver gauntlet materializes in front of him.

“So, how was your _ trip _, Cybersix?” Griselda cackles as she drops her invisibility cloak. Adrian, despite the situation, can’t help but snort derisively at the horrible pun.

“_ Really _ ? ‘How was your trip’ is the _ best _ you can do?” the teacher says sardonically, trying to create distance between himself and his assassin. “Not even Josè would let that escape his lips, and he’s thrown some pretty terrible one-liners at me.”

“Mock me all you want, Cybersix, but it’s going to be me who has the last…_ Gah! _” Griselda promptly clutches her head as the pain in her skull flares up once more. “Not again!”

Adrian promptly takes this moment to throw Griselda off him, and tries to move as far away from her as possible; but Griselda, despite the pain, manages to keep her footing, and shoots her grappling hook at Adrian, who quickly rolls out of the way; just barely missing being impaled. But before the teacher had a chance to counter, a loud shout broke through the rumbling thunder in the clouds.

_ “Incoming!” _

Griselda looks up just in time to see Miao’s rear bicycle tire make contact with her face, sending her tumbling down, while the detective manages to jump off just in time as the bike continues to skid across the roof, until it’s stopped by the barricade surrounding it. Adrian can’t help but watch in awe at Miao’s sense of timing. He quickly makes his way over to Miao as Griselda writhes on the ground.

“Your timing is impeccable!” Adrian says to Miao in an amused tone. “How’d you find me?”

“Pure luck, and a heads up from Lucas,” Miao explains, not taking his eyes off Griselda. “If he hadn't told me where you were headed, I doubt I’d have found you.”

“I appreciate the assist, but you shouldn’t be here,” Adrian says in concern. “Griselda's an extremely dangerous opponent, even for me.”

“All the more reason for the two of us to work together to beat her,” Miao replies as he hands off his glasses to Adrian, and shifts into a fighting stance, causing Adrian to give him an incredulous look. He knew Miao wasn’t a slouch by any means, but he wasn’t serious, was he?

By now, Griselda got back up from Miao’s surprise attack, still clutching her throbbing head. “Grr, I should’ve known one of Cybersix’s friends would get involved somehow,” the assassin grunts, glaring at Miao, who simply stares back. “I’ll give you credit though, you must have a nice pair of brass ones to pull off a stunt like that. It’s a shame I’ll have to rip them off you!”

Miao remains unfazed by Griselda’s threat. “This isn’t my first rodeo against any of Von Reichter’s creations,” He replies calmly. “Or anyone under his son’s operations, for that matter. So if you want to earn your prize, you’d better _ earn _ it, lady.”

Griselda hisses, and leaps at Miao with a flying kick. The detective easily sidesteps the attack, and begins to circle around Griselda as she recovers, waiting for an opening. Griselda, growing more annoyed, proceeds to throw a punch that the detective easily leans out of the way of, and follows up with two more that he easily bobs and weaves around. The assassin snarls in frustration, and tries to hit Miao with a flurry of punches, but he proceeds to parry all of them, and counters with a hard flurry of his own, ending with a hard haymaker that sends Griselda reeling. All the while, Adrian just watches the fight in awe, struck dumb at Miao’s sudden fighting skills.

Griselda stumbles back a bit, clearly not expecting the human to put up such a fight, but doesn't let herself show her surprise. “All luck!” she yells defiantly over the thunder.

“Says the genetically-enhanced assassin who couldn’t land a single hit on a glorified desk jockey,” Miao retorts cockily, not letting up on his fighting stance. In reality, he knows there’s a high chance he could be over-matched, but figures he could throw her off her game enough to make a fatal mistake. “José throws better punches than you!”

Griselda snarls again, more from the ever increasing pain in her head than Miao’s insults, but steadies herself. “Alright, boy. If you think you’re all that, then let’s see you handle this!” Griselda cloaks herself, and begins to circle around Miao. The detective’s eyes widen, and reactively pulls his helmet off furiously, and proceeds to rip its innards out, and toss it to the ground. Griselda is initially confused, until tear gas starts rushing out a hole on the inside, blinding her. Miao, ever the prepared detective, promptly pulls out protective goggles out of his jacket pocket, and quickly puts them on as he holds his breath. Meanwhile, Adrian quickly moves to the other side of the roof, wanting to be as far away from the gas cloud as possible.

Miao proceeds to unhook his grappling hook from his back, and listens intently for any coughing or wheezing from Griselda. Sure enough, he hears heavy coughing coming from directly behind him. In one swift motion, Miao whirls around, and swings the staff of his grappling hook as quick and hard as he can. He’s rewarded with a loud crack, followed by a loud smack on the surface of the roof. Smiling proudly, he quickly moves out of the gas cloud to catch his breath.

Griselda’s coughing continues before the experiment staggers from the gas with a snarl. She claws at her eyes, swearing with a shaky voice. She shakes her head, trying to clear her vision, but struggles against the burn of the gas in her eyes and lungs. 

Adrian continues to back off, careful of the edges of the rooftop as Miao lands safely further back on another rooftop. He steadies himself out, going still a Griselda stumbles further out from the gas cloud. A gust of wind from the storm around them starts to make the gas dissipate. 

“You must think you’re so clever, little man, just wait until I get my hands on you!” Griselda spits out angrily, squinting out across the rooftop for where Miao and Adrian had gone.

“Cleverness helped me survive so far,” Miao replies, putting his rod back on its holster. “And I can’t see you touching either of us when you’re virtually blind. You may as well give it up, lady.”

“Fat chance, punk!” Griselda hisses, rubbing her eyes furiously. “I was willing to let you go with a broken leg, but since you wanna be cocky, I’ll just have to kill you both!”

“I hope you have a few more tricks up your sleeve.” Adrian throws back to Miao as he tries to move further away as Griselda ripples out of view. Even if she’s struggling to see, the experiment is intent on coming at them. 

“Oh, a bit more than a few.” Miao states, trying to track Grisdelda’s movements from the raindrop pattering down from above them. He had a few things come to mind, but was weighing on where to start as a grappling hook is shot in his direction.

“_ Holy-! _” The hook barely misses him by inches, the detective managing to slide out of the way. Getting his bearings back, his eyes follow the length of the rope, and spots the visible gauntlet that was containing it. Quickly, Miao reaches into his jacket, and pulls out a taser gun, and fires it at Griselda’s approximate location. The assassin immediately turns visible once more, as the shock of the taser causes her body to spasm for several seconds, until she finally drops to one knee, huffing and puffing from the pain.

“Damn… _ Maybe _ I’ve underestimated you a bit,” Griselda croaks out, trying to catch her breath. “But there’s no way I’m going to let myself be beaten by some random human!” She slowly gets back onto her feet, still rubbing her eyes. “No matter how many gadgets you got tucked away in that tacky coat of yours!”

“_ Tacky-? _” Miao questions with a scrunch of his nose, pressing a hand against the front of his coat. 

“Miao, _ focus _.” Adrian throws out as Griselda tries to force herself back onto her feet. He darts forward trying to use her moment of unsteadiness to kick the other experiment over. Adrian wants to end this fight sooner rather than later. If not that, he can get Griselda’s attention off of Miao for now. 

Griselda jolts back in surprise at the sudden attack. A frustrated snarl escapes the blue skinned experiment as she tumbles back to correct her footing. 

“Oh, _ this _ is how you’re playing it, Cybersix?” She spits out. Griselda is quick to return the blow, her fist grazing the Cyber’s shoulder. Adrian grunts, grimacing at the force from the hit. He attempts to catch her next punch, but Griselda feints a left hook, causing Adrian to lean away out of instinct, leaving him open to a hard shot to his jaw from the assassin. Adrian reels from the impact, stumbling from the strength of the punch.

But before Griselda can capitalize, Miao jumps into the fray, ramming his shoulder into her. Griselda stumbles back a bit from the impact, but braces herself, and shoves the detective off. Miao tries to follow up with a kick to her ribs, but Griselda catches it, and immediately swings Miao around several times, before throwing him across the rooftop. He slams hard enough into one of the surrounding barriers to bend it, knocking him out in the process.

“That’s payback for earlier, you- _ ack! _” Griselda’s remark is cut off by Adrian grabbing her from behind, and putting her into a rear naked choke, attempting to strangle her. The two experiments fiercely battled for control, as Griselda tried to break Adrian’s ever-tightening grip on her windpipe as he was lifted off her feet. Desperately, Griselda blindly attempts to gouge Adrian’s eyes with her nails. She misses repeatedly the first few times, only managing to claw his cheeks or forehead, but eventually succeeded on the fourth, earning a scream from the teacher, and causing his grip to loosen slightly enough for Griselda to pry Adrian’s arm from around her neck.

As soon as she was free, Griselda took hold of both of Adrian’s arms, and threw him over the roof’s barrier. Adrian, thinking fast, reaches out, and grabs one of the barriers, but the metal was too wet to keep his grip on, and it breaks almost immediately. Frantic, Adrian attempts to grab the barrier again, but misses as he sails over it.

Adrian bites back a yelp, scrabbling to grab at whatever he can. His fingers catch at the edge of a brick window ledge. The teacher grits his teeth, struggling to keep his grip as the rain pours down over him. 

Only now does he realize just how close they are to the marina. The building Adrian had led Griselda to was situated at the very edge of the water. With the on-going storm pouring down over Meridiana, the water's surface is rough with waves. If he loses his grip, he’ll fall directly into the water below. There is no telling if he would resurface after the fall. 

Adrian grimaces as he digs the toes of his soaked loafers into the brick of the wall. He can’t get enough grip to stay here for much longer. He knows that from how much he’s already slipping where he’s hanging.

All the while, Griselda watches from above, knowing that the teacher was just moments away from breaking their grip, but she’s unable to enjoy the moment, as her head was still throbbing, and it had gotten more and more intense during the fight. Soon, her vision becomes hazy, and she collapses to her knees once more from the intensity of the pain.

“Ugh… Not again! What… is this…?”

* * *

_ The second fight had taken many twists and turns in the countryside, from fighting inside a hospital, to dragging Cybersix around from the back of an ambulance. Had that damn panther not interfered, she probably would’ve succeeded in killing Cybersix easily, but now here she was, holding onto her grappling hook for dear life on the edge of a bridge after Cybersix’s panther caused her to drive the ambulance off it, and into the waterfall below. And to top it off, the cyber had somehow freed herself from the cord, and was now looking down at her as the hook began to shatter. This wasn’t how she saw things ending, but at least it would be marginally better than being punished by Von Reichter for failing again. _

_ A begrudging kind of acceptance settles over her as Cybersix stares down at her. She’s been defeated, she knows that much. There isn’t a single thing she can do to change that. _

_ Instead of contempt in the Cyber’s gaze, its horror, concern- before she can even dwell on it, the hook holding her cracks. The sound feels impossibly loud, even against the rushing waters. _

_ She feels the rope drop, jolting her as she expects to fall into the churning waters below. _

_ Yet she doesn’t. _

_ Cybersix pulls her back up, expression pinched into something sharp and determined. A flurry of emotions roll through Griselda as she stares back up at the other woman. _

_ “Hang on!” Her hands shake on the rope, “Don’t give up!” Exertion makes her groan in pain, curling into herself as she pulls. She keeps pulling, refusing to stop. The cyber grits her teeth and carries on. _

_ A train horn blares in the distance. _

* * *

Thunder booms in the distance. 

Grisdelda’s eyes snap open, a cold pit of horror gathers in her gut as she scrambles to her feet. She slips in the puddles that have long since formed on the surface of the rooftop. Griselda slides forward with her momentum from slipping towards the edge of the rooftop. 

Her mind is racing with a million thoughts, nothing cohesive as Adrian finally looks back up at her. A flurry of emotions hit her all at once, leaving Griselda disoriented. Memories clash with what she’s been told, feel wrong, but she knows those memories are real. 

She pushes past the barrier at the edge of the rooftop, half hanging off of the edge herself as she grabs at Adrian’s wrist. Her fingers dig into the fabric of Adrian’s coat in desperation. 

“Hang on.” She grits out, grimacing at how hard it is to maintain a grip on the teacher’s wrist. “Just hang on.” 

Adrian stares at her, confusion, then relief. She grabs at Griselda's hands, clinging to her as the reptilian woman works on hauling her upwards. Adrian uses the ledge of the window as further leverage as he’s pulled upwards. 

The two collapse back onto the roof together. They send a wave of water splashing outwards in their landing. Griselda blows out a short breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she lay on the rooftop for a moment. She doesn’t care about being soaked, she doesn’t care about the cold. 

She releases her hold on Adrian’s wrist, pressing her hand tightly against her chest to try and steady her heartbeat. She can hear the slosh of Adrian sitting up next to her. 

“...You remembered.” Adrian says quietly back. 

Griselda opens her eyes, squinting at Adrian. A hint of a smile is there, tugging at his lips as he looks down at her. 

“I’m... yes.” She states slowly, her voice nearly lost in the rush of rain still falling down over them. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine, Griselda,” Adrian says easily. “At least with me, because I know José is probably why you lost some of your memories. Miao, on the other hand...” She looked over at the young detective, who was beginning to stir. Griselda nods knowingly, grimacing.

“Hopefully, he doesn’t try to murder me on sight,” Griselda sighs as she pulls herself up. Adrian chuckles lightly.

“Considering that I’m not dead yet, I think you might have a fighting chance.”

Both experiments slowly pull themselves off the ground, and walk towards Miao, who was now rubbing his head from the pain. Looking up, he saw Adrian walking side by side with Griselda, and was immediately confused. Maybe he hit his head harder than he thought?

“Are you alright, Miao?” Adrian asks gently. The detective nods affirmatively.

“Nothing an ice pack and a couple days rest won’t fix,” he says, before gesturing at Griselda. “What’s this all about?”

Adrian glanced at Griselda, as if to say, “Do you want me to tell him?” When she nodded, Adrian took a deep breath, and looked back at Miao. “Miao, this is Griselda,” he says. “She was an assassin originally created by Von Reichter to kill me, but she sacrificed herself to save me from being run over by a train in our last battle months ago. José apparently resurrected her, but her memories had been messed with before he sent her out to kill me again.”

Miao nods slowly, looking at Griselda curiously. “And since Adrian’s still alive, I take it your memories came back?” he asks. Griselda nodded shamefully, unable to look Miao in the eye.

“I’m so sorry all this mess happened to both of you,” she says, regret clear in her voice. “I know no apologies can really excuse what I did to either of you, but I wasn’t in my right mind at all. Cybersix might be willing to forgive, but I don’t blame you if you choose not to.”

Miao stares at Griselda for a moment, slowly rubbing at his face as he starts to sit up a little more. “Well, give me some time, but- I can’t hold that much of a grudge given the circumstances.” He admits. 

The reptilian experiment blinks somewhat, turning her gaze down to Miao. “I… thank you.” Griselda isn’t sure what else to say as she steals a glance back at Adrian. The teacher offers an encouraging smile back. 

The detective exhales as he moves to slowly get up. “Lets just avoid a repeat performance of this.” His lips quirk into a slim hint of a smile. It isn’t easy acceptance, but the promise of something more.

“Since we’re mostly on the same page now, I think you’re owed a proper introduction, Griselda,” Adrian says, glad the day managed to end without someone dying for once. “This is Miao Yashimoto, known around here as ‘Meridiana’s Greatest Detective’,” he says semi-humorously. “He’s gotten me out of a jam or two in the past,”

“Ah, I merely assisted,” Miao chuckles humbly. “You did most of the work.”

Recognition blossoms across Griselda’s face at Miao’s name, and gawks at the young detective in unrestrained shock. “Wait, you’re the same Yashimoto that punked José, _ and _ took out one of fath--” she stops briefly, catching herself. “ _ Von Reichter’s _ creations almost a year ago?”

Miao huffs in amusement at Griselda’s statement, clearly having heard similar stories before. “I believe that story’s been greatly exaggerated beyond hope,” Miao sighs somewhat nostalgically. “I _ helped _, that much is true; but it was Adrian who did most of the fighting, and landed the killing blow on that giant squid.”

Griselda shakes her head in disbelief, still a little star struck. “Still, you held your own- that is more than most humans _ could _ do. No one should be able to take out a creation of that size, of that level, yet you did!” 

Adrian snorts quietly at that, glancing back at Miao. “It _ was _ impressive.” The teacher has to tease a little at the situation given Griselda’s reaction. 

“I can only guess.” Griselda says with a warmer smile, still excited over the hyperbolic story. “I need to hear your side of things, especially how you tricked José.” She pauses, wincing before speaking. “Only if you want to, of course. I- we’re still new to one another.”

Miao laughs a bit, amazed at how even other creations of Von Reichter were amazed by his “extraordinary” feats. “Perhaps later,” he says. “First, I need to contact Lucas and Terry. They’re probably freaking out right now since they don’t know what’s going on with Adrian.”

Adrian nodded in agreement, though was silently thankful. Lucas was reckless whenever he got involved in her fights, and she didn’t doubt that her father would be the same way. “Where should we tell them to meet us?” he asks.

“I suppose we could go to my place…” Miao pauses, glancing at Griselda. “Though, if you plan on bringing her along, we may need a more secluded place away from prying eyes and ears.”

“Good point.” Adrian agrees, rubbing at his cheek a little tiredly. He adjusts his wet coat with an exhale. “I know a place we can go that fits that description just fine.” 

“You trust me to know it-?” Grisdela questions uncertainly, brows furrowing together in some concern as she looks between the two men. 

Adrian flashes an encouraging smile back at her, “We’re not leaving you behind.” He flicks his attention back to Miao, giving the man some directions. “I can meet you there.” 

“Should I go with you-?” Griselda questions with a curious tilt of her head.

Adrian shakes his head. “Normally, I would let you, but I need to get out of these clothes first, and then get a hold of the others,” he says, glancing down at his soaked loafers. “These shoes are a pain to move around in during a storm, I’ll say that much.”

Maio nods, and glances over at his bike, which had been sitting in the same spot since he literally crash-landed into the fight. “In the meantime, if you don’t want to risk slipping and falling off these rooftops in this weather, I can give you a lift on my bicycle,” he offers to Griselda. “We won’t attract any attention, since most people are inside, and you can cloak yourself as well.”

Griselda gives Miao a surprised stare, trying to parse things out. “I just… tried to kill you.” She wasn’t used to such easy acceptance, much less forgiveness like this. 

Adrian snorted quietly at that, “Now you aren’t, so it works out.” The Cyber wasn’t about to hold a grudge with the way he smiles back at her. 

“You’re both-” Griselda starts before shaking her head, deciding to let go of the oddity of the situation. She laughs a little as she smiles back at the two. “Thank you. I’d love to ride with you.”

Miao nods, and grabs his grappling hook. “My hook is strong enough to take all of us down to the street, unless you plan on roof-hopping again, Adrian.”

The teacher nods. “It’ll be quicker for me that way, instead of trying to get a bus in this weather,” he replies. “I’ll meet up with you all later.” The Cyber quickly leaps off the roof, and onto the next, quickly disappearing into the rain. Meanwhile, Maio walks over to his bike and picks it up off the ground, checking it for any signs of damage to the tires or frame.

“Nothing’s wrecked… thank God,” he sighs in relief. He turns to Griselda and asks, “Ready to go?”

“Ready.” She says with a nod of her own as she walks over to join the detective. “Ready as I can be.” The whole situation is something Griselda is trying to wrap her head around at the moment. Griselda still can’t quite believe the ready acceptance from Miao. Cybersix is easier to believe, given the Cyber’s actions. 

Griselda’s attention does shift to peer down from the side of the building they’re standing on. She flicks her gaze back to the bike then Yashimoto. “Now the real question is how we’re getting down with that.”

“It’s not that heavy, honestly,” Miao says casually, as he attaches the hook to the barrier. “All I have to do is hold it with one hand, while you hold onto me from the other side. The cable can hold our weight easily as we go down.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Griselda asks, remembering how her old grappling hook had managed to shatter under her weight. Miao nods reassuringly.

“The cord and hook are heavy duty; It would take at least a metric ton for either to break,” he says, turning to his former attacker. “And if you’re worried that I’ll drop you on purpose, I won’t. I’m not that type of person, and if Cybersix is willing to trust you enough to let you in on everything, then I’m open to at least giving you a fair chance.” He smiles genuinely this time, and extends his hand out to Griselda, beckoning her to come with him.

The reptilian experiment hesitates, if only for a moment before she takes Miao’s hand in her own. “...I appreciate it.” She says quietly back, her expression softening somewhat at the edges. She sobers into something serious as the two start forward down the building together.

As they slowly descended down the building, they stayed quiet for a bit, stewing over what had happened, and how things _ could’ve _ gone if the circumstances had been different. Eventually, Griselda breaks the silence between them, curiosity getting the best of her.

“By the way... where’d you learn how to fight like that?” She asks the detective. “You landed some pretty solid hits earlier.”

“I started taking kickboxing and Wing Chun lessons not long after I rescued my sister from José,” Miao says, glancing at Griselda. “When I was trying to get to her, I got blocked off by a couple of those Fixed Ideas that brat always has hanging around. I managed to avoid getting my skull caved in, but I was no match for them in a straight fight. So I took martial arts lessons so I could discourage them from attacking me, at the very least.”

Griselda nods. “And I suppose today was your first time really putting those lessons to the test?”

A snort escapes the young detective. “How’d you guess?” he replies humorously.

Griselda laughs. “You’re quite the interesting person, Yashimoto.”

“Likewise, Griselda; and call me Miao.”

Soon, the two of them were back on solid ground. Pressing a button on his staff, Miao’s hook detaches from the roof’s barrier, and the cord rapidly coils itself back into the staff. Once it was securely back in place, he hooks it onto his back once more, and hops on his bike. Griselda quickly follows suit, and cloaks herself from sight as they rode through the stormy streets of Meridiana.

* * *

“Thank goodness, I was beginning to think you two got lost on the way here.”

It took just over an hour for Miao and Griselda to travel from the Marina to the sewer’s entrance, not helped by the weather conditions, and Miao’s impaired eyesight due to neglecting to get his glasses back from Cybersix earlier. Said Cyber, now wearing her usual nighttime outfit, had been waiting for them at the entrance when they finally arrived.

“Riding around in the rain while half-blind isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but we managed,” Yashimoto says half-humorously as he and Griselda get off the bike. “I’m lucky I know the city as well as I do.”

“Please tell me you have his glasses somewhere in that suit.” Griselda questions a little dryly as she eyes the other experiment. “I’d much rather he not crash on the way back.” 

“_ Oh- _!” Cybersix patted at her suit in search of the glasses. 

“I’ll be fine, really!” Miao protests, before being silenced by the disapproving sound Griselda manages back at him. 

It takes a moment for the Cyber to produce the glasses from an inner pocket somewhere on her suit to hand back to the detective. She gives an apologetic sound, “Sorry, the lenses might be a little smudged.” 

“Better than blind.” Griselda says firmly back with a wave of her hand.

“Do you want to walk back?” Miao retorts as he puts his glasses on, though there’s no real malice in his voice. His eyes widen as he realizes something. “Wait, where are you going to stay at now? I can’t imagine you going back to José, even under false pretenses.”

Griselda clicks her teeth together, golden eyes narrowing somewhat in a grimace as she speaks. “I was trying to think of that on the ride over.” 

Cybersix frowns a little as she looks between the two. “We’re going to have to figure that out.” 

“Help wouldn’t hurt, but I can find my own way if I must.” Griselda states simply enough, shaking her head. “My attack on Cybersix tonight likely put you in more danger if anyone saw much of it.” 

The dark haired cyber doesn’t look completely content with the idea of Griselda just running off on her own. “With how hard it was raining, we’re not sure if anyone _ could _ have seen what happened.”

“I don’t think we have to worry about anyone seeing our little scrap,” Miao agrees, putting his glasses back on. “But if worst does come to worst Griselda, I _ do _ have a spare room. It’ll take some explaining to Ikiko, but I don’t think she’d mind you being around if she sees that you’re a good person at heart.”

Griselda opens and closes her mouth in shock. “You- are you certain?” Clearly the reptilian woman hadn’t expected that level of an offer.

“Think about it. No pressure from me.”

Griselda nods slowly, contemplating the detective’s kind offer. “I will. Right now, we should get to our meeting place.” She then looks at Cybersix. “Have you told the others about me?” she asks.

Cybersix nods affirmatively. “They’re admittedly a bit uneasy, but they’re willing to give you a chance as well,” she answers. “It probably won’t be instant, but they’ll eventually come around.”

“I suppose we should… go in then.” Griselda answers warily, sparing the sewers themselves a glance. “The weather is calming enough we shouldn’t be swept away at least.” 

“Right.” Cybersix smiles a little, wanting to reassure her fellow experiment somewhat. Griselda had come back to life, been tricked and gotten her memories back in a fairly short period of time, Cybersix can guess that is more than a little disorienting. 

“Just follow my lead.” She motions for Miao and Griselda to come with her before she turns to head into the sewers. Her heels click against the ground, the sound almost lost in the rush of running water. 

Griselda and Miao don’t hesitate to trail after the cyber, sticking close to her as much as they can on the narrow strip of walkway the further they get into the sewer system. None of them do much talking along the way until Cybersix finally slows, dropping down onto a sturdier ledge in front of a green maintenance door. 

“Here.” She motions for the other two to come down as she waits by the door.

“I’m surprised you can even navigate this place,” Griselda comments as she makes her way down. “It feels more like a maze in here than the city does.”

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Cybersix replies. “When you need to be _ absolutely _ unseen going places, the sewers are the best way to go, since not even José would willingly send his men down here.”

“Then I guess that makes us either very brave, or very foolish,” the reptilian woman comments dryly.

“Eh, they often go hand in hand, in my opinion,” Cybersix replies with a shrug, before turning and knocking on the door. “Dad, Lucas! We’re here!” she shouts through the door. Griselda gives the Cyber an odd look, wondering who her “father” was.

The door opens up to reveal Lucas, his hair more dishelved than usual due to being out in the rain. He smiles initially at seeing Cybersix, but it quickly morphs into a mild frown upon seeing Griselda. “You must be… _ her _,” Lucas says, uneasiness clear in his voice. Griselda, normally a prideful person, shrinks a bit at Lucas’ tone.

“She’s on our side now, Lucas,” Cybersix says insistently, wanting to keep their already thin peace stable. “What happened in the past is in the past, and today only happened because José messed with her memories.”

Lucas doesn’t look completely convinced, squinting at Griselda warily before blowing out a frustrated sigh. “...Fine.” He isn’t happy, he likely won’t be for a good while. 

Griselda manages to bite back a grimace at the reaction, staying quiet for now.

Cybersix’s smile brightens by several degrees as she reaches a hand out to squeeze Lucas’ shoulder. “Everything is going to be okay.” 

Some of the blonde man’s tension eases a little at contact with the cyber. His lips threaten to curl into a smile just for a moment. “Tell that to your dad,” Lucas answers with a vague huff as he steps back a little to let the group into the room. He still spares Griselda a wary glance, but doesn’t outright seem to be hostile just yet. 

The reptilian experiment doesn’t really relax given the low disapproving growl that rises in the room. The source isn’t hard to find. Data Seven is settled next to Terry, glowering in her direction. His ears are folded tightly against his skull as his tail swishes rapidly against the floor. Griselda just barely manages to stop herself from backing right back out of the room at the sight. The panther looks likely to pounce on her in the moment. 

Cybersix rests her hands on her hips, frowning back at her brother. “_ Data Seven _, relax.”

Her tone is enough to make the experiment squint and grunt back at her. Data Seven clearly wants to argue as much as he can, though he refuses to take his eyes off of Griselda. Meanwhile, Terry glares at the reptilian woman, recognizing her as one of _ herr doktor _’s creations.

“When Cyb said you had made your way back to the world of the living, I was sincerely hoping she was joking,” the father says, looking Griselda up and down. “I guess José’s meal ticket wasn’t good enough for ya, huh?”

Griselda’s eyes widen in recognition, realizing who the other man before her was. “Julius…” she breathes out.

“_ Terry _ ,” he replies firmly, giving Griselda a dirty look. “My name has _ always _ been Terry; not that goddamn slave name your creator tried to put on me. Don’t _ ever _ call me by it again.” His voice had changed into a deep growl that surprised even Cybersix in its fierceness.

“Dad…” Cybersix starts, clearly a little thrown off herself. 

Griselda clicks her teeth together, “Noted.” She says carefully, not wanting to push the issue. “My apologies.” The green skinned experiment was a proud woman, but not a foolish one. She was walking into their territory and she was here on Cybersix’s word. A wrong move would mean she would have two sides of a conflict after her head. Miao, still outside, decides to step in, and try to break the tension between everyone.

“I understand I’m not exactly the best person to be a voice of reason, since I’m technically a third-party to all of this,” he says as he steps through the door, and stands next to Griselda. “But Griselda’s sincerely remorseful for all the trouble she’s caused. I know forgiveness isn’t instant, but give her the benefit of the doubt, at least.”

Terry and Data Seven grumble unhappily, but otherwise say nothing; while Lucas sighs, but nods in agreement, having no desire to get on Cybersix’s bad side if she was willingly sticking her neck out for her former rival. Cybersix lets out a relieved sigh, and silently nods in thanks to Miao.

The detective returns a nod of his own, his lips quirking upwards into a brief smile. Griselda is the first to hesitantly break the silence as she glances to Cybersix. “If it _ is _ safe to ask, now what?” The reptilian experiment questions. Some part of her wants to prove herself, as much as secure a place here. “I’d like to help, just- point me in a direction.”

Cybersix nods. “We were already planning to destroy José’s Sustenance supply, since we know he doesn’t have the means to make more, but _ we _ do,” she says, stretching her arms. “Right now, we’re just trying to figure out how to get to it inside the villa.”

Griselda’s expression changes from mild apprehension to complete incredulity in an instant. “_You _ have the formula?! _ How? _ Von Reichter kept it under tight guard!”

“I took it,” Terry speaks, clearly reluctant to be talking about it in front of Griselda. “After you died the first time, Von Reichter sent out a living bomb to blow up Meridiana, but José double-crossed Von Reichter, and rerouted the bomb to the lab.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Once he did that, he left _ Herr Doktor _ and everyone else in the laboratory for dead; Cyb, myself, and Data Seven included. I managed to escape, and took a copy of the formula with me while the Fixed Ideas were panicking.”

Griselda just stares at Terry in stunned silence as he tells his story. With her memories back, she concluded that José had obviously lied about Cybersix destroying the lab, but she didn’t anticipate _ this _ . Not only had she been lied to, but it was _ José _ who killed her siblings, and nearly included Cybersix in that bodycount as well; _ and _ he had the absolute gall to mess with her head to make her do his dirty work for him.

A flurry of emotions whirls through her head as tears begin to sting her eyes. She tries to say something, _ anything _, that could help her make sense of this, but all that comes out is a loud sob that quickly leads into a fit of crying, unable to hold her composure any longer. Her legs suddenly feel weak, and nearly give out on her, but Miao grabs hold of her, and pulls her into a much needed hug. Griselda wraps her arms around the detective, and buries her face into the crook of his neck, sobbing uncontrollably. Cybersix looks at Griselda with concern and sadness, knowing exactly why she was crying, while Lucas and Terry’s expressions changed from distrust to confusion. Data Seven just continues to glare at her.

“I had… I had no idea…” she chokes out between sobs. “That fucking bastard… had the audactiy to not only kill my siblings… but _ lie _ about it to my _ face! _” Griselda’s grip tightens around Miao, squishing him slightly. Miao, despite his own discomfort, continues to comfort the bereaved experiment.

Cybersix walks over, and places a comforting hand on Griselda’s shoulder. “I miss them too; and I’m just as angry as you are over José killing them,” she says, her own voice quivering. “They even sacrificed themselves to buy me enough time to escape from the base before it exploded. There isn’t a moment where I didn’t wish for a way to have saved them from that fate.”

Griselda briefly stops sobbing for a moment to glance at her former target. Both of the older men's faces soften in realization, and even Data Seven, who was glaring daggers at Griselda just moments earlier, looks at the reptilian woman in pity and understanding. In spite of Von Reichter sending his creations after them, both he and Cybersix still considered them siblings in some way, and Griselda was clearly no different. Slowly, Data Seven approaches Griselda, and bumps her leg with his head, nuzzling her. Both she and Cybersix look down at the panther, surprised by his apparent about-face.

Data Seven rumbles quietly back, glancing up at the two women. Cybersix finds herself smiling, if just briefly, as understanding settles over her. 

“Data Seven knows what you’re feeling as well.” She translates softly back, “He’s part of our family too.” She reaches out to stroke her fingers along the top of Data Seven’s head. 

Griselda stares down at the panther, biting down hard on her bottom lip as she tries to find something to say. Everything that comes to mind catches in the back of her throat, leaving her silent. She squeezes her eyes shut for the moment, miming her thanks. The panther rumbles once again, nuzzling against her again in understanding. 

Miao runs a hand against Griselda’s back as silence hangs between all of them. Griselda sobs, choking on her words here and there. No one seems intent on rushing the woman given the situation. 

Griselda draws back after a moment to wipe at her eyes with a sharp exhale. The experiment wants to regain some sense of control over herself, but is still struggling against her own grief. 

Lucas glances between everyone gathered, awkwardly patting his pockets before producing a handkerchief. He takes a tentative step forward to extend the offer to Griselda. “Here. It should be dry.” Griselda hesitates, before carefully taking the cotton handkerchief from his hand. She swallows a little thickly, nodding her thanks. She wipes at her face, trying to calm her breathing.

“I… I’m sorry,” she finally manages to croak out. “Not just for today, or my past attacks, but for myself and my other siblings who were ordered to kill you by Von Reichter. It’d be so easy for me to say ‘we were just following orders,’ but we were just as complicit, no matter how much we truly hated it, or how much our minds ended up being twisted to obey him.”

Cybersix nods in understanding, remembering how some of those same creatures that had attacked her ended up dying with regret, or let themselves die to save her. “Von Reichter was an evil man, but the fact that you’re here with us now is proof alone that you never truly were. Just misguided.”

Griselda nods, still thinking about her siblings, but those thoughts are gradually replaced with immense embarrassment, as she quickly realizes she’s still tightly clinging on to Miao. Flustered, she lets go, and fumbles a quick apology, silently thankful that she can’t blush in embarrassment. Miao just smiles easily, and waves his hand nonchalantly.

“It’s fine, I’m the one who initiated it, anyway,” he says comfortingly. “You probably would’ve hit the floor otherwise.”

Griselda, still embarrassed, nods in thanks, before risking a glance at Terry. The adoptive father lets out a weary sigh as she makes eye contact with him.

“Frankly, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this,” he admits bluntly, scratching his cheek. “But I _ do _ think you’re being sincere, and Cyb is willing to go to bat for you, at the very least. It might take time for me to fully forgive you, but I have no problems with you helping us against José.”

“Whatever you need, I’ll do my best to help.” Griselda pledges firmly back. Her voice is a little rough from crying, but the determination is clear enough. She stands more on her own, wiping at her face. She grimaces at how damp the handkerchief is in her hands. 

Lucas looks between everyone present once again, before he speaks. “We’ll need all the help we can get.” His lips quirk upwards as he rubs at the back of his neck, “Uh, welcome to the team?” He wants to be welcoming, but it's clear enough he’s still not fully sure how to feel just yet. 

Data Seven snorts a little at that, giving as much of an eye roll as he can at Lucas, rising to stand and weaving his way back over to Terry. Griselda, despite herself, can’t help but chuckle at the mild awkwardness from Lucas. 

“I appreciate the welcome, honestly,” Griselda says genuinely. “And as for getting to José’s reserve, I know exactly where it is in his villa, and how to get to it. My only question is how do you plan on destroying the vats containing it?”

“I have access to chemicals that can make them shatter,” Lucas replies. “Getting them _ in _ the villa was the problem we were trying to figure out, at least until you came along, that is.”

Griselda begins to feel a confident smirk spread across her face. She settles a hand against her hip as she speaks. “_Well_, if that’s the only hurdle, then allow me to be your tour guide for our trip to Meridiana’s Third Reich. What else did you all have planned?”

Cybsersix chuckles, and moves closer to the table. “Quite a bit, but with your knowledge, we might be able to streamline things a bit. Let’s get started.”


End file.
